Awards Announced at 12th Annual Sculpture By The Sea, Cottesloe Launch

Published by: Anarchy PR | 3-Mar-2016
The $50,000 Rio Tinto Sculpture Prize and $10,000 WA Sculptor Scholarship Awarded at 12th annual Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe launch. The inaugural Rio Tinto Sculpture Prize of $50,000, the most generous award for sculpture in Western Australia was announced today by Hon. John Day MLA, Minister for Planning, Culture and the Arts at the opening of Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, to Dale Miles (NSW) for his sculpture Parallel Thinking Space. This acquisitive award will be gifted by Rio Tinto, the new Principal Sponsor of the exhibition, for permanent public placement in Western Australia. @sculpturebysea @sculpturebythesea #sculpturebythesea @anarchypr
In addition, Minister Day announced the recipient of The Western Australian Sculptor Scholarship of $10,000, which was awarded to Olga Cironis for her sculpture Mountain of Words. This scholarship, donated by Gavin Bunning & Julienne Penny since 2013, provides funds for the artist's study, travel and the advancement of their career, together with an invitation to exhibit at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2016 this October.

Founding Director, David Handley said, "it is wonderful to recognise Olga who has a wonderful history with Sculpture by the Sea and in the visual arts in WA. For Dale, this represents a career enhancing opportunity for one of the leading artists in their 30's in Australia. Congratulations to both artists and thank you to all of the sculptors in this years' exhibition."

The awards were selected by a judging panel of leading figures in the visual arts:

"¢ Amy Barrett-Lennard - Director, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
"¢ Dr Michael Hill - Head of Art History & Theory, National Art School
"¢ Janet Holmes à Court AC - Collector

Dr. Michael Hill, one of the judging panel said "upon reflecting on our decision, we realised that Dale and Olga's pieces are standout pieces in terms of fabrication and the intelligence of the ideas and yet, they are vastly different."

Rio Tinto chief executive Iron Ore, Australia, China and Korea Andrew Harding said "Rio Tinto is proud to support Sculpture by the Sea in our 50th anniversary year, ensuring this wonderful exhibition, showcasing highly regarded artists, continues to be enjoyed by the Western Australian community and visitors to our State. Congratulations to Dale Miles for receiving the Rio Tinto Sculpture Prize for your though provoking sculpture Parallel Thinking Space."

Rio Tinto's support of this acquisitive award is one component of their sponsorship with Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, which also includes support of the volunteer programme, Emerging Artist Mentorship prize, Sculpture Inside prize and sponsorship of Japanese, Chinese and Korean exhibiting artists from their key iron ore customer countries.

Perth's largest free to the public outdoor art exhibition, Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe runs from 4 "“ 20 March 2016. An estimated 220,000 visitors are expected to visit Cottesloe to see 77 sculptures from local, national and international artists.

21 West Australian artists will exhibit their works, including Decade Club inductee Jennifer Cochrane alongside leading international artists Li Wei (China), Peter Lundberg and Will Clift (USA), Jorg Plickat (Germany) and Keizo Ushio (Japan).

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