Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize

The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize is an annual acquisitive award for small sculpture, organised by the Woollahra Council in New South Wales, Australia. ^[1] It is recognised as Australia's leading small-scale sculpture competition with a prize pool of over A$ 29,000. ^[2] In 2024 the prize attracted over 750 submissions from Australian and international artists. ^[3]

The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize was established in 2001 and is open to any freestanding sculptural work up to 80 cm in any direction. The major award earns a place in the Woollahra Council’s permanent public art collection. ^[4]

The prize consists of the main Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize valued at $25,000, the non-acquisitive Special Commendation award of $2,000, Mayor's Award of $1,000 and the Viewers' Choice award of $1,000. ^[4]

Selected winners

• 2001 – Sebastian Di Mauro with Snare – Shimmer Suite ^[5]
• 2002 – Jan King with Leda
• 2003 – Mikala Dwyer with Empty Sculpture
• 2004 – Bruce Slatter with Smashing
• 2005 – Jessie Cacchillo & Craig Waddell with Ruby Rabbit ^[6]
• 2006 – Louis Pratt with The Ambassador’s Skull 3.1
• 2007 – Archie Moore with Humpy Goona ^[7]
• 2008 – Adam Cullen with Pegasus flying over Sydney
• 2009 – Alexander Seton with I...U
• 2010 – Archie Moore with Humpy Goona ^[8]
• 2011 – Margaret Seymour with Pas de deux ^[9]
• 2012 – Thor Beowulf with The Carbon Credit Machine ^[10]
• 2013 – Julia deVille with Sorrow
• 2014 – Natalie Guy with Form for modern living #2 ^[11]
• 2015 – Robert Owen with Symmetria #37’ ^[12]
• 2016 – Todd Robinson with Psychic Staircase ^[13]
• 2017 – Sanné Mestrom with Self Portrait (Sleeping Muse)
• 2018 – Tim Silver with Untitled (When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd 02)
• 2019 – Merran Esson with Autumn On The Monaro
• 2021 – Rhonda Sharpe with Desert woman with mustache, coolamon and pretty clothes
• 2023 – Anita Johnson with Tenderness ^[14]
• 2024 – Hannah Gartside with Bunnies in Love, Lust and Longing ^[1]
• 2025 – Virginia Leonard for Glad that you are not here all the time – an urn for unwanted limbs and other things ^[15]

References

1. Review, Arts (14 September 2024). "Hannah Gartside wins the 23rd Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize". Australian Arts Review. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
2. "Hannah Gartside wins the 2024 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize". Art News Aotearoa. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
3. "Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize". Art Collector Magazine. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
4. "Woollahara Small Sculpture Prize". Woollahra Gallery.
5. "Snare - Shimmer Suite | Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize". sculptureprize.woollahra.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
6. "Ruby Rabbit • Craig Waddell". Craig Waddell. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
7. Taylor, Andrew (23 October 2010). "Smallest is the best but decadence is declined". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
8. Taylor, Andrew (23 October 2010). "Smallest is the best but decadence is declined". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
9. "Margaret Seymour – ISEA Symposium Archives". isea-archives.siggraph.org. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
10. "Woollahra-Small-Sculpture-Prize-Thor-Beowulf-The-Carbon-Credit-Machine-0091714_120912083207". Art Almanac. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
11. "2014 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize". Artist Profile. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
12. "Robert Owen | Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize Winner". Artist Profile. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
13. Wallace 18 Oct 2016, Francesca (18 October 2016). "The winner of the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize has been announced". Vogue Australia.
14. Bratovich, Rita (28 September 2023). "Small sculpture artist bowled over by big prize". City Hub. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
15. Review, Arts (26 September 2025). "Winners announced for the 2025 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize". Australian Arts Review. Retrieved 30 September 2025.

External links

• "Acquisitions Collection 2001–2021" (PDF). Woolahra Small Sculpture Prize., Woolahra Municipal Council, 2021.