First established in 2015 as the Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, the prize was relaunched in 2024 as the Bayside Painting Prize with an increase in prize money for the non-acquisitive Major Prize to $25,000. A new part of the prize is the $10,000 acquisitive Beckett Local Prize, named in honour of remarkable local modernist Clarice Beckett, which is open to artists who demonstrate a connection to the municipality of Bayside or the work entered is of local subject matter. There is also a $1,000 People’s Choice Award, announced at the conclusion of the exhibition.
The Bayside Painting Prize is the only annual painting prize held in Melbourne. The finalist exhibition brings together a broad range of artists from across Australia, both established and lesser known, whose varied approaches to the painted medium conveys the breadth and diversity of current Australian painting practice.
Judges for the 2025 prize are Dr Vincent Alessi, Director + CEO, Linden New Art, and Melissa Keys, Senior Curator, Heide Museum of Modern Art.
Image: Installation view of the 2024 Bayside Painting Prize finalist exhibition
