Public called on to judge winner of One Square Foot art competition

THE community will decide which of the 40 artworks featured in the One Square Foot exhibition receive the People’s Choice prizes.

The competition, organised by Lion Studios, challenged artists from all around Australia to paint creative pieces, on a square-foot canvas, in any style. Artists were permitted to choose oils, acrylics, and even mixed media.

“When we designed the competition, the entries were made to fit in an Australian postbag, so we can ship them all over Australia,” said Kim Mackenzie, of Lion Studios.

Of the original 73 entries, 40 made it to the final round after being judged by local artists Peter Masters and Sally Walker, from the Port Stephens Artisan Collective.

Now they’re on display at Lion Studios. Votes can be cast either online or by visiting the exhibition in person.

“About half of the artists on display are local, but we’ve also got artists from Sydney and as far north as Townsville,” Ms Mackenzie said.

“We had an entry from Condobolin and a few in Victoria as well.”

Voting will finish on 29 June, and winners will be announced live at an event the following day.

The top two most popular entries will receive a solo exhibition in 2027 as well as a special feature on a new coffee-table book that Lion Studios is working on.

The book will be launched in August and will be available online or at Readers Retreat in Salamander Bay.

It will contain all of the submitted artwork, with winning artists featured on the front and back cover. Winners will also have additional space inside the book to talk about themselves and explain their artwork.

“We want to increase exposure for each of the artists,” Ms Mackenzie said.

By Nico LOMBARDO