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Material Girl

Women Behind the Wheel for Material Girl 2011 - Winners Announced!

Friday 18 March was a red letter night for women artists in Burnie with the opening of the Material Girl 2011 Exhibition.

The Burnie Coastal Art Gallery hosted over fifty artists and supporters to see the 2011 winners announced.

Congratulations to Maureen King for her work The Printmaker which took out the Rio Tinto Alcan Award for Overall Excellence.

Annie Robinson's Coming, Going artist book won the Premiers Award, with the Zonta Award for highly commended going to Carol Maney for her work Believe

Excerpt from Coming, Going

Believe

Two women shared the Zonta Young and Emerging Artist Prize - Amber Koroluk-Stephensen for Young Emerging Artist and Mackenzie Gordon-Howard for Emerging Artist (special recommendation by the Judges) for their artworks She's too hip to be happy and The Chauffeur respectively

. The Chaffeur

Shes too hip to be happy

Viewers still have time to contribute to the peoples choice category by visiting the exhibition and voting for your favourite work.
Material Girl 2011 remains at the Burnie Coastal Art Gallery until Thursday 21 April and a survey show of selected works will then tour the state. A show not to be missed!

Prize money of $3,500 is on offer across series of catagories that are sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan, Zonta International and the Premier's Department.

Material Girl helps build the profile of women artists in Tasmania and focuses attention on the issues which influence their work. As a regular fixture on the arts calendar it is eagerly awaited as an instigator of new work.
The diversity of works this award attracts has always been one of its strengths. Although it began as a showcase for textile based works, artworks in any medium are accepted within the dimensions set for exhibition.

In a nutshell, "Whatever drives you to create....just do it !"

The 2011exhibition opened at the Coastal Art Gallery in Burnie, a beautiful light filled venue which presents a regular program of workshops and art classes run by Burnie Coastal Art Group. Selected works will then tour the state for the rest of the year through the Tasmanian Regional Arts Access and Touring program hosted by regional communities.

Previous Exhibitions - 2010 Material Girl

Many artworks told a very personal story: "Growing Angus" by Louise Daniels of Ulverstone is a painting of a friend in pregnancy. It says "Work completed 12th January 2010. Angus completed 11th January 2010" - so new life and artwork occurred simultaneously.

Overall the exhibition was a colourful and diverse mix of works by experienced and emerging artists with over half the pieces as 3 dimensional artworks in fibre, glass and ceramics.

Dr Marie Sierra, the new head of the Art School at the University of Tasmania's Academy of the Arts in Launceston gave the opening address and winners were announced at the opening of the Showcase Exhibition at Poimena Gallery in Launceston on Friday March 12 at 6pm.

The winners were Premier's Award, Suze Van der Beek for her photographic print under epoxy resin, "Your Star, my Sun (detail)

The Rio Tinto Award for Overall Excellence Frances Joyce for her pastel on paper, Hello...Dahling...Mwah!

The Zonta Highly Commended, Jill Eastley for her ceramic tea pot "Drink My Tea, Eat My Garden"

The Zonta International Award for Young Emerging Artist's (shared award) Julia Castiglioni-Bradshaw,for her acrylic, ink, charcoal on paper "Reclining Figure"

and Rene'e Spurr for her charcoal on paper drawing,"Unseen Half"

As in previous years, Tasmanian Regional Arts will tour a selection of works around the state throughout 2011. Further information of tour dates and venues can be found on the Tasmanian Regional Arts website or by contacting the Material Girl Project Officer, Teresa Beck-Swindale on 6426 2344.

Material Girl 2009 is proudly supported by

Material Girl 2012

Theme:   Speak to Me!

Material Girl art award and exhibition ... celebrating and promoting the work of Tasmania's contemporary female artists

Exhibition at: Venue in Hobart TBA

Dates: Fri 22 June 2012 - Sunday 16 July 2012

Touring: From July 2012 - March 2013

Submitted works must reflect the theme Speak to Me! The theme is designed to explore contemporary communication.

All media are permissible. Maximum dimensions for works are 80cm (height) x 80cm (width) x 80cm (depth) including frame. Maximum weight for works is 20kg.

A $15.00 fee contributes to meeting exhibition marketing and administration costs and is non-refundable.

The calendar for Material Girl has been changed for 2012 to make it easier for artists to prepare entries:

Critical Dates:

Monday 14 May 2012 at 5pm - Entries close

Friday 01 June - Notification of selected artists

12-15 June - Selected works to be delivered

Fri day 22 June, 6pm - Opening & award announcements at gallery

Sunday 16 July - Exhibition closes

July 2012 to March 2013 - State Touring Exhibition of selected works

So now you have the dates and the theme, start creating, ladies!

More details, including the entry form and full entry requirements, will be posted to his web page as the arrangements roll out.