Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award 2025
24 May - 17 August 2025 | Gallery 1
The Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award celebrates the diversity and strength of Australian textile art. Now in its ninth iteration, the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award was initially established to mark Wangaratta's long and prominent history of textile manufacturing and craft making. In furthering this unique tradition and social history the award celebrates and strengthens the development of contemporary textile practice in Australia. With the significant investment of project partners, the Kyamba Foundation, prize money now stands at $40,000, representing the richest textile prize in Australia. In addition to the $40,000 acquisitive award the Highly Commended Ruth Amery Award of $2,500 is also offered.
The 2025 finalists, selected from over 430 entries Australia wide, are contemporary artists who not only demonstrate a mastery of technique in a broad textile medium, but innovation and excellence alongside a rigorous and robust conceptual practice. Finalists include:
Helvi Apted, VIC
Elisa Jane Carmichael, QLD
Hannah Cooper, NSW
Charlotte Haywood, NSW
Cara Johnson, VIC
Charles Levi, NSW
Emily Simek, VIC
Jacqueline Stojanovic, VIC
Sera Waters, SA
Jemima Wyman, NSW/USA
The finalists were selected by a panel comprising 2023 award winner and artist Sepideh Farzam, Katy Mitchell, Visual Arts Coordinator, Ararat Gallery TAMA (Textile Art Museum Australia) and Wangaratta Art Gallery Director Rachel Arndt.
Artist Jemima Wyman was announced as the $40,000 acquisitive prize by Guest Judge, Dr Blair French, CEO, Murray Art Museum Albury at the opening and award ceremony on 24 May 2025.
The Highly Commended Ruth Amery Award of $2,500 was awarded to artist Elisa Jane Carmichael.
Previous recipients of the award have included Sepideh Farzam, Gillian Bencke, Linda McLean and Cheryl Kennedy, John Parkes, Kate Just, Paul Yore, Patrick Snelling and Mandy Gunn. For more information on the history of the award visit the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award page here.
An online education resource is available to accompany the award. The resource includes a series of activities designed to engage educators and their students in thinking and talking about contemporary textile practice in Australia. The resource is an introduction into part of the Wangaratta Art Gallery’s collection with particular focus on textiles that have been informed acquisitions through the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award since 2009 and Wangaratta’s social history. The resource is available here: Wangaratta-Contemporary-Textile-Award-Education-Resource.pdf(PDF, 8MB)
