Art Prize returns after hiatus

Published on 02 May 2022

After a year off due to COVID-19, the City Gallery’s acclaimed Pro Hart Outback Art Prize (PHOAP) is set to return in 2022.

The Pro Hart Outback Art Prize is an acquisitive competition showcasing work in any media which reflects the spirit and diversity of the Australian Outback.

The prize consists of an Acquisitive First Prize, a Non-Acquisitive Second Prize and a People’s Choice Award with a total prize pool of $23,000.

Entries for the Art Prize open on May 9, and will close on August 11.

Council's Manager Gallery and Museum, Blake Griffiths, said the prize was both a tribute to the late Pro Hart and his family, and a showcase of fine artistic work.

"PHOAP recognises the continued support and contribution to the arts by the Hart family," he said.

"Pro Hart and his body of work are synonymous with Broken Hill’s fascinating history and reputation as a regional artistic hub."

The prize is made possible with the generous support of Raylee J Hart & the Hart family in honour of Pro Hart.

For more information click here.

This year the prize will be judged by the Co-Editors of Fine Print magazine, Rayleen Forester and Joanna Kitto.

Rayleen Forester is an Adelaide based, independent curator and arts writer. Rayleen graduated from the South Australian School of Art majoring in History & Theory and continued her post-graduate studies completing a Graduate Diploma in Art History and Graduate Diploma in Arts & Cultural Management at the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia. In 2010 Rayleen was awarded the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Travel Grant to collaborate with Japanese curator and Gallery Director Katsuya Ishida where she lived and worked for two and half years. Rayleen’s curatorial interests focus on cross-cultural engagement through contemporary and experimental art practices. She was awarded the inaugural Curator Mentorship Initiative grant (2012) through NAVA to work with established international curator Cuauhtémoc Medina at the second largest European Biennale MANIFESTA. She co-curated the long-established Artists’ Week symposium in 2014 with Lars Bang Larsen (DEN) and Richard Grayson (UK). In 2016 she completed a residency at ICI New York as part of their curatorial hub program. She writes for national publications and is a founding member of initiatives FELTspace and fine print magazine. In 2016 she curated Playground a multidisciplinary exhibition of local, national and international artists presented at JamFactory, Adelaide, SA and FX Harsono: Beyond Identity at Nexus Arts. In 2020 she co-curated ACE Open’s Artist Survey: If the future is to be worth anything with Artistic Director, Patrice Sharkey.

Joanna Kitto is a curator and writer in Narrm (Melbourne). She currently holds the position of Director at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre at the City of Darebin. In this role, Joanna has created an identified First Nations position, generated public program opportunities and contributed to the BHAC five-year strategic plan. Previously, she was Associate Curator at the Samstag Museum of Art where she led solo exhibitions and projects including Exosmosis by Virginia Barratt & Em König, To Become Two by Alex Martinis Roe, Small acts of resistance by Amos Gebhardt, Ithaca by Kirsten Coelho, Sovereign Acts V: Calling by Unbound Collective, and Berceuse by Christian Thompson. As an independent arts worker and curator, Joanna presented Home Thoughts from Abroad at Praxis Artspace; Peculiar Familiar in AEAF 24:7, debuted The Picture of Ourselves by Rä di Martino (ITA) in Tarntanya, and commissioned a major new work by Julia Robinson. An active member of the visual arts community, Joanna is a regular contributor to public discussions, judging panels and national arts publications most recently Art Collector, Artlink GAGPROJECTS and the Art Gallery of South Australia. She is co-director and co-founder of fine print, an independent platform cultivating experimental and critical discussion around contemporary art, both online and in shared spaces. Joanna is passionate about supporting artists with socially engaged practices, and seeks to generate meaningful connections between art, artists and audiences.

fine print is an independent magazine cultivating critical and experimental discussion around contemporary art, both online and in shared spaces. fine print commission and publish diverse written, performative and moving image works by artists, writers and leading thinkers. Each issue is centered around a thematic concept key to the contemporary art world. fine print has an eye for the concerns of local, national and international communities and believe in the importance of a conversation that recognises the contribution of each to our understanding of current art practice.

Key Dates

Entries Open: Monday 9th May, 2022 on the Gallery Website.

Entries Close: Thursday 11th August, 2022

Finalist Notification: Friday 2nd September

Exhibition Dates: Friday 30th September - Sunday 20th November, 2022