The Lester Prize

The Lester Prize is celebrating its 14th Anniversary in 2020 and its 5th year at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA). The Lester Prize is one of the nation’s most recognised and prestigious fine art prizes. The prize pool available to professional, emerging and young artists is now worth almost AUD85,000 including the main prize of AUD50,000. This year's 40 finalists were chosen from 750 entries received from artists across Australia. There are 12 finalists are from Western Australia, 8 from New South Wales, 7 from Victoria, 5 from South Australia, 3 each from Queensland and Tasmania, and 1 each from the Australia Capital Territory and Northern Territory. Of those, 16 have previously been finalists were finalists in previous years competitions. This year’s main awards panel comprises of Western Australian artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, AGWA Associate Curator, Projects Rachel Ciesla, Alan R Dodge AM, Perth-based curators Gemma Weston and Laetitia Wilson. The awards will be announced at the awards night.