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The Jenny Birt Award

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Nyah Willis - 'Skin of Gum' 2020. Oil on copper. 20.1x47.1 cm. Image courtesy: the artist.

Celebrating 30 years of supporting student artists

For many years, Jenny Birt has been encouraging young artists to pursue and build careers as professional practicing artists. One of the ways she has supported young and emerging artists is through an annual award. 

The Jenny Birt Award was initiated in 1995 by the ‘U Committee’ and is the longest running and most prestigious award for painting at the School of Art & Design. Candidates are nominated by academic staff and then selected for inclusion in the exhibition and consideration for the $4,000 prize. 

Previous Award recipients

To date, 30 alumni have received the Jenny Birt Award. In many cases, it was the first major Award received by practicing artists like Marikit Santiago, Leila el Rayes, Lisa Sammut, Stephanie nova Milne and Vedika Rampal.

1996     Vicki White

1997     Stephanie Monteith

1998     Anthony Buselli and Lois Robertson (Joint award)

1999     Maria Kontis

2000     Fiona Greenhill

2001     Patricia Kirkham

2002     Nicola Brown

2003     Jaqueline Olivetti

2004     Stephanie nova Milne

2005     James Smythe

Image: 1996 Jenny Birt Award winner Vicki White with Jenny Birt. Photograph courtesy of ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Archives.

2006     Jeremy Bakker                

2007     Kathy Yeh

2008     Sue-Elyn Millson

2009     Tom Ferson

2010     Bernice Ong

2011     Sarah Park

2012     Marikit Santiago

2013     Lisa Sammut

2014     Broc Webster

2015     Lucy Zaroyko

Image: 2011 Jenny Birt Award winner Sarah Park with Jenny Birt. Photograph courtesy of Sarah Park.

2016     Leila El Rayes

2017     Jae Thomas

2018     Harrison Witsey

2019     Alexander E.S. Ryrie

2020     Nyah Willis

2021     Astrid Elouise Bell

2022     Vedika Rampal

2023     Jacqueline Jacky

2024     Keroshin Govender

2025     Aarhon Silver

Image: 2018 Jenny Birt Award. Left to right: Professor Ross Harley, Bethany Smith (Highly commended), Nolan Murphy (Highly commended), Jenny Birt, Harrison Witsey (Award recipient), Carmen Glynn-Braun (Highly commended). Photograph: Jacquie Manning.

Online exhibitions

Recipient: Aarhon Silver

Finalists: Aarhon Silver, Ava McClure, Claudia Karskens, Cleo Ding, Elijah Kinnavong, Grace Milross, Harrison Rae, Iris Aung, Jess Curran, Joanna Murray, Leilani Knight, Lok Yin Law, Lucy Parkinson, Mark Wilson, Mei Lin Meyers, Molly Webster, Rebecca Mansour, Skye Wallace, Tash Brobyn, Trinity Johnson.

Image:  Aarhon Silver with the winning work 'Feeling anxious?... there that's better', 2025. Acrylic on canvas, print on canvas, sound buttons on canvas/board; Painting: 192 x 178cm; 2 wood panels: 120 x 90cm; Plinth: 20 x 20 x 100cm. Photograph: Anna Kucera. 

online exhibition

Recipient: Keroshin Govender

Finalists: Nell Bradshaw, Tash Brobyn, Jess Curran, Carolina de Almeida Guarino, Jordan Dempsey, Mercedes Dunn, Yolanda Dussek, Bridget Fung, Nath Gee, Helen Holder, Chetan Immidi, Trinity Johnson, Mei Lin Meyers, Narrelle Odeh, Lucy Parkinson, Lige Qiao, Skye Wallace, Junnie Wang, Mark Wilson.

Image: Keroshin Govender with the winning work 'Vatsala and Marimuthu', 2024. Hand dyed natural indigo fabric, screen-printing, hand and machine sewing, jute, linen, silk, acrylic paint. 130 x 94 cm. Photograph: Anna Kucera. 

online exhibition

Recipient: Jacqueline Jacky

Finalists: Aarushi Zarthoshtimanesh, Abby Murray, Anna Nolan, Annalise Jennings, Bianca Currey, Daisy WT Ng, Hattie Bidwell, Joel Coleman, Keroshin Govender, Lua Pellegrini, Lucinda Hackett, Lucy McLauchlan, Lucy Parkinson, Maite Feijo, Ming Sun, Monisha Kumar, Sophia Olivieri, Vedika Rampal.

Image: Jacqueline Jacky with their winning work ‘That Place They Had’, 2022. Screen-print, watercolour monotype, calico, string, keen’s curry, turmeric. Photograph: Anna Kucera. 

online exhibition