Sydney Catholic Schools Annual Portrait Prize

My Popo.Steven Purwadi - Pam HigginsThe SCS Portrait Prize serves as a powerful platform to recognize and celebrate outstanding Visual Arts students while setting a high standard of excellence for emerging talent from K-12. By encouraging students to create representational portraits, this competition fosters creative expression and emotional intelligence. Through this experience, students gain confidence in their critical thinking and practical skills, making the SCS Portrait Prize a valuable opportunity for young artists to develop and showcase their talents.

The theme is a portrait of a person who is special to the entrant, who is known to the entrant and who plays a significant role in their life.

Winners selected will be entered into the Young Archie Portrait Competition at the  Art Gallery of NSW. Additionally, those who receive honourable mentions in the Young Archie competition will undergo a selection process and may have the chance to be featured in the Salon de Refuses, which is held at the SH Ervin Gallery.

Exciting Opportunity!

Please join us for a Panel Discussion on Portraiture hosted by Claudia Chan Shaw with panelists Tony Costa, Sally Ryan and Michael Simms Saturday 4 May 1.00 – 2.30pm at McGlade Gallery ACU.
Bookings via Try Booking.

Virtual Gallery for 2024 is now Live!

Art Competition Information and FAQ

Click here to download the poster and social media @arts_hq_scs

By entering the Sydney Catholic Schools and Portrait Prize Art Competition, entrants accept these terms and conditions as stated.

Copyright

The artwork submitted must be the original work of the student themselves and not infringe the copyright, moral rights or other rights of any third party. Artworks that are deemed to not belong to or be created by the student will NOT be eligible.

Licensing of artwork

Participants of the competition (including winners and finalists) grant the Parties non-exclusive rights to reproduce their artwork in material form, to photograph, publish and/or communicate it to the public for competition-related purposes, and anything incidental to such purposes, by the Parties: marketing, publicity, educational and publication uses, the competition and its exhibition in all media, including but not limited to electronic/digital, broadcasting and print media, in perpetuity. Permission to reproduce the work must be conveyed by the student to any party outside the Parties. Where reasonable, the Parties will attribute the student as the author of the work and reproduce the work in full. Details of the work may be used at the Parties’ discretion. Entrants (including winners and finalists) will not be entitled to any fee for such use.

Privacy

Sydney Catholic Schools collects personal information for the purposes of registration and to keep schools informed about the contest. Sydney Catholic Schools is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information which the organisation collects, holds and administers. Sydney Catholic Schools will use all reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of individuals’ personal information and to comply with the obligations imposed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP).

Sydney Catholic Schools will not share any personal data about entrants with any party excluding the Parties to the competition, without the consent of the parent, teacher or guardian.

  • The portrait must be of a person who is special to you – someone who is known to you and who knows you and plays a significant role in your life.

There are four age categories:

  • 5-8 year olds
  • 9-12 year olds
  • 13-15 year olds
  • 16-18 year olds

  • Schools may nominate up to 5 students in each category that they deem exemplary.
  • A separate form must be filled in for each submission.
  • All images must be uploaded at the time of submission and must be a high (1-3 MB) resolution .jpeg and suitable to add to a virtual gallery.
  • All submissions, images and artist statements must be submitted by the 20th February 2023 at the latest.
  • Winners will be notified mid-February
  • All submitted works will be included in the Virtual exhibition on the 17th March 2023
  • The judging criteria will consider:
  • Conceptional strength;
  • Relevance of the submitted artwork to the theme;
  • Technical resolution;
  • Artistic interpretation of the theme; and
  • Originality of the submission.
  • The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into

  • There is one prize winner in each of the 4 categories.
  • Each winner will receive a $200 hamper of art materials from ZART.
  • 4 honourable mentions per category
  • Certificates for each student entry

The winning piece of artwork in each category will be entered into the Young Archie competition. The Art Gallery of New South Wales invites budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18 to submit a portrait. The portrait must be of a person who is special to you – someone who is known to you and who knows you and plays a significant role in your life.

ARTWORK SUBMISSION Schools may submit a maximum of 20 works – 5 in each category.

Schools are required to upload the following files as JPEG at the time of submission:

  • Artist name, age, address and contact details
  • Title of the Artwork
  • Image of the artwork
  • A short 100-word description of the artwork. This can include who the artwork was

why this person was chosen and the materials used.

All uploaded files must be named as follows: School_Student First Name_Student

Surname_Title of Piece

Eg. Good Samaritan College_John Smith_Here We Go

LINK to Submission FORM

LINK to the Consent FORM

  1. If the artwork is selected you will be required to provide the student’s personal email and

home address.

TIMELINE

2023

  • Entry now open for 2024 Portrait Competition.
  • The due date for the 2024 Portrait Prize is 23 November 2023 5pm.
2024
  • Friday 23 February 2024 Winners of each category announced + EDO/E&R Prize announced + Virtual Gallery Open.
  • Tuesday 27 February 2024 Winning entries due to Southern Cross Burwood. Winners will be notified about this.

ARTWORK SUBMISSION

  • Schools may submit a maximum of 20 works – 5 in each category.

Can regional and remote schools enter?

No, the competition is open to students in Sydney Dioceses in primary and secondary schools

Are there any age restrictions?

The competition is open to students in the following age categories  in primary and secondary school. Students must be attending a Sydney Catholic Diocesan School in 2023.

Eligibility:

5-8 year category: born 7 March 2013 to 6 March 2018

9-12 year category: 7 March 2009 to born 6 March 2014

13-15 year category: born 7 March 2006 to 6 March 2010

16-18 year category: born 7 March 2003 to 6 March 2007

Can we submit a group/class artwork?

No, the competition is only open to individual students’ artwork.

Can I copy it?

The judges are looking for originality and only original work is eligible for the competition. You must not copy an artwork or photograph created by another person or an image from another source such as the internet or a print publication.

Do I have to enter a painting?

No. You can use any physical materials you like, including paint, pencil, oil pastel, crayon and collage.

Does the artwork need to be created at school in class?

No, students can create their artwork at home or within the curriculum.

Can I submit my child’s own artwork?

No, all submissions must be done through the school. Each school can submit a maximum of 5 artworks in each category for judging.

Who is on the expert judging panel?

The panel is made up of representatives from SCS THE ART TEAM Education Officers and  Artist in Residence.

How are finalists and winners announced

Finalists will be announced through Sydney Catholic Schools Communications. Each winning school will be notified via email once Sydney Catholic Schools announces the winners.

All announcements will also be shared on Sydney Catholic Schools website THE ARTS and social media channels.

For general competition questions please contact Education Officer Visual Arts: annemaree.wells@syd.catholic.edu.au

2022 Artsteps SCS Portrait Prize

2022 catalogue

2023 Artsteps SCS Portrait Prize

By entering the Sydney Catholic Schools and Portrait Prize Art Competition, entrants accept these terms and conditions as stated.

Copyright

The artwork submitted must be the original work of the student themselves and not infringe the copyright, moral rights or other rights of any third party. Artworks that are deemed to not belong to or be created by the student will NOT be eligible.

Licensing of artwork

Participants of the competition (including winners and finalists) grant the Parties non-exclusive rights to reproduce their artwork in material form, to photograph, publish and/or communicate it to the public for competition-related purposes, and anything incidental to such purposes, by the Parties: marketing, publicity, educational and publication uses, the competition and its exhibition in all media, including but not limited to electronic/digital, broadcasting and print media, in perpetuity. Permission to so reproduce the work must be conveyed by the student to any party outside the Parties. Where reasonable, the Parties will attribute the student as the author of the work and reproduce the work in full. Details of the work may be used at the Parties’ discretion. Entrants (including winners and finalists) will not be entitled to any fee for such use.

Privacy

Sydney Catholic Schools collects personal information for the purposes of registration and to keep schools informed about the contest. Sydney Catholic Schools is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information which the organisation collects, holds and administers. Sydney Catholic Schools will use all reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of individuals’ personal information and to comply with the obligations imposed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP).

Sydney Catholic Schools will not share any personal data about entrants with any party excluding the Parties to the competition, without the consent of the parent, teacher or guardian.

2024 Portrait Prize Winners