Lorna takes out top prize

LORNA Beagan is the winner of this year’s prestigious Poets of Penola (PoP) Acquisitive Art Prize for her work ‘The Sun Is Up”’, an artistic interpretation of the poem of the same name by John Shaw Neilson.

The $12,000 art prize was awarded during the opening night of the Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival (PCAF), hosted at home of the festival, Still Water Studio in the heart of Penola on Friday, May 15.

The Poets of Penola Acquisitive Art Prize celebrates the literary and artistic heritage of Penola and invites artists to create works inspired by the poetry of three poets associated with the region – John Shaw Neilson, Adam Lindsay Gordon and William Henry Ogilvie.

Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival president John Mossop said this was the second year of the Poets of Penola prize which builds on a 32 year history of the previous John Shaw Neilson Art Prize.

“The PoP Art Prize is made possible through the generous support of a local benefactor, The Mary Skene Kidman Fund., Mr Mossop said.

“With 33 entries received the quality and curation of this prestigious prize was fervently contested.

“By pairing poetry and visual art, the PoP Art Prize invites creatives to explore our cultural heritage in a dynamic and accessible way.”

In addition to the PoP Art Prize, awards presented on the night included the Limestone Coast Local Art Award, sponsored by PCAF life member Lois Hodge and the Packer’s Prize.

The entries for this year’s PoP Art Prize, including the winners, will be open for exhibition until June 12 at Still Water Studio, 45B Church St, Penola.

Penola Coonawarra Festival and studio coordinator Peta Baverstock said they were encouraging the community to visit the vtudio and view these stunning art works.

The Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival acknowledges and thanks the Art Gallery of South Australia for its continued support, and especially Jason Smith, Art Gallery of South Australia Director for his contribution as this year’s judge.

“Lorna Beagan’s painting ‘The sun is up’ is mesmerising,” Mr Smith said. “It drew me back again and again for ever more rewarding viewing. What initially appears as a conventional and pared-back portrait of a young boy reveals itself as an image that is finely resolved technically and conceptually.

“Beagan’s motivation to visually meld the figure and the tree so that, in her words, ‘they’d belong to the same hour, the same air, the same sun’ is remarkably successful and presents us with a deeply moving image that is a perfect homage to its poetic inspiration.

“Beagan’s lyrical portrait calls for all of us to celebrate our human nature and our organic connection to the earth of which we are a part.”