Wendy Sharpe has won the 2019 Calleen Art Award, receiving $20,000 in prize money, made possible by the Calleen Trust, for her work Erskineville Train Station (2018). The announcement took place at the official exhibition opening of the 2019 Calleen Art Award Exhibition on Saturday 4 May 2019.
Wendy Sharpe, Erskineville Train Station 2018, oil on canvas, 145 x 182cm. Winner of the Calleen Art Award 2019
‘When I first moved to Erskineville in inner Sydney, it was a rundown rough area full of life. It was also one of the cheapest places to live. Although it has changed a lot, I am glad to say some of eccentric characters are still here, and a few more added. I walk from Erskineville to my studio in nearby semi-industrial St Peters every day. This walk is often spent thinking about what I am working on. What I see around me often feeds into what I am painting’ – Wendy Sharpe
Sharpe’s winning work will become part of the Calleen Collection – the foundation collection of the Cowra Regional Art Gallery.
The Calleen Art Award is open to original paintings in any style or subject and encourages originality and artistic merit, established in 1977 by Mrs Patricia Fagan OAM.
The 2019 People’s Choice Award (non-acquisitive) is $1,000 in prize money, courtesy of the Friends of the Gallery and will be announced at the end of the Calleen Art Award exhibition; on sow at Cowra Regional Art Gallery from 5 May to 16 June 2019.
