In a break with tradition, the 2024 EJ Mantova Art Prize will this year be exhibited at the Bellingen Gallery and Framing Studio. This shift brings the much-loved art event right into the heart of Bellingen, setting the stage for a month-long exhibition leading up to the 2024 Bellingen Show.
Bellingen Gallery and Framing Studio owners, Simon and Telea Degenhard, are thrilled to be hosting the exhibition. The relocation seamlessly aligns with the Bellingen Gallery and Framing Studio’s longstanding connection to the EJ Mantova Art Prize and the exhibition opening will coincide with the second anniversary of the Degenhard’s assuming ownership of the business.
Artists from Bellingen and further afield are invited to participate in the annual art prize, with call for entries opening on Monday 12 Feb. There are four categories in the Art Prize, the Open prize for any subject, any medium, a Landscape prize, the Marie Warwick Memorial Works on Paper prize and the Sculpture/3D prize, each category attracting a first prize of $500 and a second prize of $200.
A long-treasured art event in Bellingen, the EJ Mantova Memorial Art Prize has taken place annually in conjunction with the Bellingen Show since the 1970s. The Art Prize pays homage to Ernest John Mantova, who is credited as the Bellingen’s first professional artist. Mantova moved to Bellingen in the early 1930’s where he spent the next 20 years producing innumerable landscape works and helping local artists establish their own creative practice.
Key dates – E J Mantova Memorial Art Prize:
Entries open: 12 Feb 2024
Entries close: 15 March 2024
Exhibition opens & winners announced: Saturday 6 April, 3pm
Bellingen Show (closing weekend): Saturday 4 & Sunday 5 May
Save the dates and rally support for this dynamic artistic initiative in the heart of Bellingen.
Entry forms available mid Feb from Bellingen Gallery and Framing Studio, Nexus Gallery and Urunga ArtSpace and on the Bellingen Show website.
Bellingen Shire Council are major sponsors of the 2024 EJ Mantova Art Prize.
The 2024 Bellingen Show will take place on Sat 4 & Sun 5 May 2024.