Kate Gorringe-Smith Wins 2025 WAMA Art Prize

Victoria-based artist Kate Gorringe-Smith has won the 2025 WAMA Art Prize for White-faced Heron at Twilight, receiving the $15,000 Major Acquisitive Prize. Her linocut was selected from 54 finalist works now on display at WAMA’s newly opened National Centre for Environmental Art in Budja Budja/Halls Gap.

Three Awards of Excellence, valued at $2,500 each, were presented to Deanne Gilson for Earth Shield, for protection, Ro Murray for Against the Tide I, II, III, and Dolores Skowronski Malloni for Grampians Bitter pea. All finalist works are available for sale, except the acquisitive winning work, which will enter WAMA’s permanent collection.

A People’s Choice Award will be announced in March 2026. Visitors can vote in person or online, with all voters entered into a draw for WAMA prize packs.

This year’s program also includes a digital Salon des Refusés opening 15 December, presenting selected non-finalist works online. The initiative broadens visibility for artists and gives collectors access to additional works beyond the physical exhibition.

The 2025 edition marks the first time the prize has been presented inside the new National Centre for Environmental Art, a purpose-built gallery dedicated to the meeting point of art and the environment. The building forms part of WAMA’s expanding 16-hectare precinct at the foothills of Gariwerd/Grampians National Park, alongside the Gariwerd Endemic Botanic Garden and Jallukar Native Grasslands.

WAMA CEO Francesca Valmorbida said the exhibition reflects the organisation’s interest in how artists across Australia interpret the natural world. “Seeing the 2025 Art Prize installed in the new gallery is a milestone. The diversity of the finalists gives us a picture of how artists are working with ideas around environment and climate. It’s encouraging to see that range at this stage in the Centre’s life.”

Gorringe-Smith said the award arrived at a meaningful point in her practice. “My art is always about engaging with the environment, so winning this prize is very special. Birds are often the first wild animals we notice, and for many people they open the door to a deeper connection with place.”

Her work joins previous acquisitive winners Melissa Smith (2021) and Martin King (2023) in the permanent collection. Smith described her own award as a turning point. “It remains a highlight in my career and a prize I feel closely connected to because of its focus on nature and environmental concerns.”

The biennial prize drew more than 450 entries in 2025. This year’s judging panel included Dr Vicki Couzens, Suzanne Davies, Anne Virgo and Dr Jacqueline Healy.

The WAMA Art Prize exhibition runs from 6 December 2025 to 8 March 2026.