The Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize is the largest and richest art prize for females in the country and this year attracted 821 high-quality entries from every state and territory.

The 2018 winner of the $35,000 Professional Artist Prize was Angela Tiatia for The Fall, a video narrative inspired by the events of World War II and shot in a single long take. The judges described it as a ‘masterful work with the richness and theatricality of a 19th century tableau vivant.’

The winner of the $5,000 Emerging Artist Prize was Tasmanian Amber Koroluk-Stephenson for her beautiful oil on linen work, Marooned.

Ravenswood Principal, Mrs Anne Johnstone, says the school established the art prize to redress the imbalance between numbers of female art graduates and their representation in gallery exhibitions and prizes.

A recent research study entitled Glass Ceilings in the Art Market by Bocart et al., noted that there are no women represented in the top echelon of the global auction market where 41% of the profit is concentrated. Overall, 96% of artworks sold at auction around the world are by male artists.

‘At Ravenswood, we value artistic expression and innovation highly. The prize reflects our commitment to nurturing and supporting creativity, not only for practicing artists but for our own students and emerging artists,’ Mrs Johnstone said.

An exhibition of 98 finalists’ works was on display in the Centenary Centre Foyer for just over a week. It was open to the public and visited daily by girls from every Year Group at Ravenswood and students from surrounding schools, to enhance their understanding of visual art and the importance of women supporting women.