Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith art award
Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith Biennial art award 2026
Announcement of Judges
Finalists and winners of The Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith art award will be selected this year by esteemed judges
Anna Davis – Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, has built a distinguished practice over more than 15 years, with a focus on experimental and critically engaged exhibitions.
Barry Keldoulis – Senior Art Consultant/Assistant Director at Artbank, brings over four decades of experience across the contemporary art sector, including roles in curatorship, gallery leadership and national arts initiatives, and continues to champion Australian artists through his work with Artbank
Prizes and opportunities:
Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith award (acquisitive) $25,000
Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith award to an early career artist (non acquisitive) $5,000
Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith award to a local artist from the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai area (non acquisitive) $5,000
and
A finalist will be selected for a 3:33 Art Projects collaboration.
Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith art award 2026 Finalists Announcement
After an incredible response and an inspiring range of entries 52 outstanding artists have been selected by our judges, Anna Davis, curator at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Barry Keldoulis, Artbank Client Services Coordinator.
Commencing in 2024 the art award has a prize pool totalling $35,000. The exhibition theme invites artists to respond to the theme of ‘Making Connections’, a theme inspired by the art of Grace Cossington Smith whose work reveals her connections to her world – to family, domestic life, the local Turramurra area, the changing city of Sydney and ultimately to the modern art of Europe.
A huge thank you to all the artists who entered. The judging panel had the challenging task of narrowing down an extraordinary field of work, and we are grateful to everyone who contributed to such a high calibre of submissions across different two-dimensional mediums.
Exhibition of Finalists: Saturday 18 July to Saturday 15 August 2026
Opening and awards presentation: Wednesday 22 July 2026 6-8 pm
More information on the exhibition page
The full list of the 2026 finalists can also be viewed here.
PAST art award exhibitions
All previous Grace Cossington Smith art award exhibitions can be viewed on the Past Exhibition page.
Exhibitions were held in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2024