A large crowd gathered at the Castlemaine Art Museum last Friday night when Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards announced the winner of the Len Fox painting award. This is an acquisitive prize that is awarded every two years to commemorate the life and work of E. Phillips Fox. The $50,000 prize money is funded through a bequest by Mona Fox in memory of her partner Len Fox, with the trust also contributing towards the award’s not inconsiderable administrative costs.
Before the prizewinner was announced, Ms Edwards turned on the Castlemaine Art Museum’s new gallery lights. The State Government contributed $272,000 towards the cost of the state-of-the-art lighting system.
The 2024 Len Fox award winner is Nellie Napa Coulthard for her painting titled Tjuntala Ngurangka – Country with Wattle, which celebrates the beauty of the artist’s country. Nellie’s home is in Yankunytjatjara Country, which is located near Oodnadatta.
Judges of the Len Fox Painting award were curator and writer Emma Busowsky and artist John Wolseley. In an entertaining speech, John outlined how difficult it was to narrow 300 entries down to a final cut of 56 paintings.
“It was nervous breakdown material,” he quipped. “Judging art awards is a dangerous thing to do. Once when I judged a prize in Sydney, I was kicked by a disgruntled artist after announcing another artist as the winner!”
This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 4 October 2024.
