The Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award at Werribee Park was

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's most financially rewarding prize for sculpture, instituted in 2000, and providing a total of A$145,000 in prizes to award recipients each year. The last award was made in 2008. In 2009, the trustees of the

Helen Lempriere Helen Dora Lempriere (12 December 1907 – 5 November 1991) was an Australian painter, sculptor and printmaker. Biography Born in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern on 12 December 1907, she was the only child of Charles Algernon Lempriere (brother ...

Bequest announced that the Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award would not be made, and the award is now defunct.

Withholding of the award in 2009

In 2009, the award was withheld when a new selection process for finalists (a change from application to invitation) resulted in what ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper called 'a disaster', when an insufficient number of entries of good standard led to the withholding of the exhibition and award for that year. The trustees of the Helen Lempriere Bequest, Perpetual Private Wealth, announced in December 2009 that the award would no longer be made. Rather than being organised under its own auspices at Werribee Park, the award would instead be absorbed into the Sydney-based

Sculpture by the Sea The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia's largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. This exhibition was initiated in 1997, at Bondi Beach and it featured sculptures by both Australian and overseas artists. In ...

award.

The 2010 scholarships

On 23 December 2009, David Knowles of Perpetual Private Wealth announced that the new manager of the Lempriere award would be the

organisation, and that in 2010, the award would comprise three A$30,000 scholarships for sculptors.

Exhibition

Until the award's restructuring in 2009, an exhibition of the finalists was held each year in the grounds of

Werribee Park Werribee Park is the estate of a historical building in Werribee, Victoria, Australia. It includes Werribee Park Mansion, the Victoria State Rose Garden, formal gardens, the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre, the Werribee Open Range Zoo, ...

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. The award was acquisitive, and winners were brought into the collection displayed along the Sculpture Walk at Werribee Park. The local government authority,

Wyndham City Council The City of Wyndham in Victoria, Australia, is divided into three wards (Harrison, Chaffey and Iramoo) and is represented by eleven elected councillors. The Victorian Electoral Commission Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Vic ...

, would also purchase works for deployment as sculptural installations in the municipality. The future of the collection at Werribee Park remains unresolved; Perpetual Private Wealth has announced a separate review.

Complete list of winners

2016 Jennifer Turpin (NSW), operation crayweed Geoffrey Bartlett (VIC), embrace Hanna Hoyne (ACT), cosmic trumpet & embrace 2 Norton Flavell (WA), just another 2015 Orest Keywan (NSW), and the ship sails on (with apologies to f.f.) Dale Miles (NSW), parallel thinking space Samantha Small (ACT), stalemate Mk II 2014 Elaine Clocherty, gamma gamma – storm Jock Clutterbuck, oceania cartouche Koichi Ishino, wind stone – the threshold of consciousness 2013 Lucy Humphrey, horizon Francesca Matagara, a to b Paul Selwood, the museum 2012 Lou Lambert, red herring Philip Spelman, tête à tête Tom de Munk-Kermeer, luchtkasteel 2011 Alessandra Rossi, comfort zone James Rogers, hokusai’s child Marcus Tatton, the ruin 2010 David Horton, jarrett in london Matthew Harding, centripetal Michael Le Grand, anaconda *2001 (Inaugural prize) - Karen Ward, ''Hut'' *2002
Nigel HelyerMeta Diva
*2003 - Gary Wilson, ''Untitled'' *2004 - Richard Goodwin, ''Prosthetic Apartment B'' *2005 - William Eicholtz, ''The Comrade's Reward'' *2006 - Alexander Knox, ''Death of a White Good'' *2007 - Julia Davis, ''Meniscii'' *2008 - Bob Jenyns, ''Pont de l'archeveche'' *2009 - Award withheldHelen Lempriere Sculpture Awards
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References

External links

Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award website
{{Australianartawards Australian art awards Sculpture awards 2000 establishments in Australia Awards disestablished in 2009 American sculpture awards