Local artist Anna Reynolds not only had a chance to rub shoulders with the elite of the Australian art community at a recent awards night, she also put her own name up in lights.
The Charles Darwin University Honours graduate and part-time photography/media design lecturer, was awarded the prestigious Qantas Foundation Encouragement of Contemporary Art Award (NT) at the third annual Qantas Foundation Art Award held at the Art Gallery of NSW recently.
Ms Reynolds, along with seven other recipients, will share in cash and airfares to the value of $112,000, enabling her to travel and develop ideas to bring home to Australia.
She said the awards were unique in that they required entrants to submit a body of work, rather than an individual piece.
“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity and support the Qantas Foundation gives to emerging artists and it is a great honour to receive this award,” she said.
“I’d like to thank Steve Eland from 24hrart for nominating me and the wider Darwin art community for the support they have given to me over the years.”
Ms Reynolds said the awards were a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with other emerging and prominent artists.
“This will provide a fantastic opportunity for me to fly to New York, London and Dubai where I will gather inspiration for an exhibition of new work titled Generic Metropolis,” she said.
A practising artist represented in the CDU Art Collection, the Qantas Contemporary Art Award is Ms Reynolds’ latest in a stellar list of achievements dating back to 1991.
The Qantas Foundation Art Award was established in 2008 with a $3.4 million donation from Qantas. Now in its third year, the award has supported the careers of 24 Australian artists, who have exhibited around Australia and the world, including at the Venice Biennale.