Multiple Australian arts prizes and fellowships announced in May 2026
In May 2026, Australia announced several prestigious arts awards. Monica Rani Rudhar was honored with the $35,000 Ravenswood Australian Women Art Prize for her work 'When both shall meet.' Emerging artists Jane Burton Taylor and Stephanie Bush also received recognition. Angela Goh secured the Experimental Performance Fellowship from Performance Space, in partnership with AGNSW, Sydney Opera House, NGV, and MCA, contributing to the 16th Gwangju Biennale and the 18th Lyon Biennale. Jon Goulder claimed the $10,000 Melbourne Design Week Award, while Beau Dean Riley Smith became the first recipient of the $100,000 annual Shaun Parker & Company Choreographic Fellowship. The Red Ochre Awards celebrated Bronwyn Bancroft, Stephen Pigram, Hetti Perkins, and Djambawa Marawili AM. Richard Lewer won the Archibald Prize, and Tarik Ahlip took home the Blake Art Prize. The Miles Franklin Literary Award longlisted ten novels, and Hadley's Art Prize recognized 27 finalists. Additionally, the Artspace Studio Program welcomed Remy Faint, Rindon Johnson, Adriana Māhanga-Lear, and Haji Oh, and twelve musicians from NSW participated in Green Music Australia's Sound Country Artist Leadership Retreat.
Key facts
- Monica Rani Rudhar won the $35,000 Ravenswood Australian Women Art Prize for ceramic work 'When both shall meet'.
- Angela Goh received Performance Space's Experimental Performance Fellowship for 2026.
- Jon Goulder won the $10,000 Melbourne Design Week Award.
- Beau Dean Riley Smith received the inaugural $100,000/year Shaun Parker & Company Choreographic Fellowship.
- Sarah Contos won the 2027 Copyright Agency Partnerships Grant Commission for ECU exhibition.
- Stanislava Pinchuk won the 2026 Mordant Family and Creative Australia Affiliated Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome.
- Back to Back Theatre selected as Portrait artist for 2026 Festival d'Automne à Paris.
- Richard Lewer won the Archibald Prize for portrait of Iluwanti Ken.
Entities
Artists
- Monica Rani Rudhar
- Jade Oakley
- Jane Burton Taylor
- Stephanie Bush
- Angela Goh
- Jon Goulder
- Tony Ellwood AM
- Beau Dean Riley Smith
- Shaun Parker
- Sarah Contos
- Clothilde Bullen OAM
- Bronwyn Bancroft
- Stephen Pigram
- Hetti Perkins
- Djambawa Marawili AM
- Stanislava Pinchuk
- Aliza Wong
- Lynne Roberts-Goodwin
- Jenny Watson
- Alex Seton
- Barbara Campbell
- Reko Rennie
- Angela Valamanesh
- Khaled Sabsabi
- Sally Smart
- Fiona Longhurst
- Liz Nowell
- Richard Lewer
- Iluwanti Ken
- Gaypalani Waṉambi
- Lucy Culliton
- Tarik Ahlip
- Drew Connor Holland
- Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello OAM
- Randa Abdel-Fattah
- Dominic Amerena
- Lyn Dickens
- Toni Jordan
- Steve MinOn
- Konrad Muller
- Omar Musa
- Josephine Rowe
- Madeleine Watts
- Sean Wilson
- Mia Boe
- Betty Muffler
- Ken Done
- Bronte Leighton-Dore
- Michelle Pulatuwayu
- Woody Minnapinni
- Philip Wolfhagen
- Remy Faint
- Rindon Johnson
- Adriana Māhanga-Lear
- Haji Oh
- Alex The Astronaut
- Earl Weir
- Eugene Obeng
- Georgia Sallybanks
- Jake Taylor
- Jess Holt
- Tay Blunt
- Zoe Catterall
- Berish Bilander
- Anna Goldsworthy
- Damien Frost
Institutions
- Ravenswood School for Girls
- Performance Space
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Sydney Opera House
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
- Leeum Museum of Art
- Haus der Kunst
- Gwangju Biennale
- Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art
- Melbourne Design Week
- Alpha60
- Chapter House
- Abbotsford Convent
- Yiaga
- Shaun Parker & Company
- Bangarra Dance Theatre
- Denise and Michael Kellen Foundation
- Copyright Agency
- Edith Cowan University
- Ramsey Art Prize
- First Nations Arts and Culture Awards
- American Academy in Rome
- Mordant Family
- Creative Australia
- Festival d'Automne à Paris
- Back to Back Theatre
- Arts Project Australia
- Perimeter Editions
- Archibald Prize
- Wynne Prize
- Sulman Prize
- Blake Art Prize
- Liverpool Powerhouse
- Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Hadley's Art Prize
- Hadley's Orient Hotel
- Artspace
- Green Music Australia
- Sound NSW
- ArtsHub
- ScreenHub
Locations
- Sydney
- Australia
- Melbourne
- Geelong
- Perth
- Western Australia
- Rome
- Italy
- New York
- United States
- Paris
- France
- Collingwood
- Hobart
- Megalong Valley
- Newcastle
- Gwangju
- South Korea
- Lyon
- Seoul
- Munich
- Germany