Acknowledgment

St Columba’s Catholic College and the St Columba’s Art Prize acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and waters on which we gather to work, learn, and celebrate; this is the country of the Dharug and Gundungurra people.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and we extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Meet Our Judging Team

Catherine O'Donnell

Catherine O’Donnell is an established, award-winning contemporary artist who has exhibited extensively on a national and international scale, including a solo institutional exhibition which is touring across regional galleries in 2022-23. Her practice elevates everyday Australian architecture and its embedded social history with a focus on low-income housing and the relationship between memory, place, and national identity.

Her works can be found in private and public collections including but not limited to AGNSW, Parliament House Art Collection, Artbank, WestPac Collection, MAAS Powerhouse Sydney, Campbelltown art gallery, MAMA, National Art School, Korean Art Foundation, Grafton Regional Gallery, and the Kedumba Collection of Australian Drawings. She has also undertaken numerous residencies across Australia and internationally travelling to Rome, Paris, Venice and New York. 

Sarah Birtles

Sarah Birtles is the founder of SARAH BIRTLES Art + Advice, a Springwood-based consultancy connecting global audiences with original Australian artworks. With over 15 years of experience in galleries like the MCA and Penrith Regional Gallery, Sarah curates and offers artworks for sale online and at art fairs, helping clients build unique private and corporate collections.

Dr Clare Nicholson

Clare Nicholson lives and works in Sydney. She is a passionate materialist sculptor, painter and educator, with a practice-led PhD in epigenetic maternal-foetal programming from UNSW Art & Design. For this research, Nicholson was the winner of the highly prestigious UNSW Dean’s Award for making an outstanding PhD contribution. Nicholson has taught in rural and remote high schools and within UNSWAD’s sculpture department. She exhibits within Australia and overseas, along with presenting at international conferences. Nicholson also co-authored ‘Sustaining Seas. Oceanic Space and the Politics of Care’, (Rowman & Littlefield).

Judging Criteria

Open Prize
While St Columba’s Art Prize is not thematically limited, judges will be looking for a level of aesthetic professionalism, along with conceptualisation. Central to the chosen finalists, artworks will demonstrate material, methodological and technical expertise, while igniting an emotional response, or engage a sense of wonder, intrigue or challenge.
 

Youth Prize

While St Columba’s Art Prize is not thematically limited, judges will be looking for a level of creative style and skilful use of materials. Composition, expression and artistic intention or interpretation will be a focus for the judging criteria. 

 

* The judges will write a short piece outlining why the winning Open and Youth artworks were chosen, and make a public statement regarding these choices. 

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