It is with greatest pleasure that we announce the winners of the Maitreya Festival Art Prize for 2009.

Thank you to all of those who entered, 

The people voted and the choices were...

Wasteland bone Sculptures - $1000

Sculpture installation using recycled metal material and bones! An extensive collection of bones from an assortment of Australian animals have been rearranged into crazy mystical wasteland creatures.....

Totem (renegade art music stage) - $1000

What is art? Is it a conscious effort to provide a creative space for people to gather and dance? Is it the amazing music played by musicians through crystal clear sounding speakers? Is it the wonderful people who stumble across the space and give it their creative energy? This is Totem….

Stephen Troy Allen- UV Installation - $1000

A sprawling techno-tribal maze-like pattern originally drawn over 300 hours with a fine ink pen. I have tried to capture the essence of psytrance in a static, yet kinetic visual expression. My work also explores the perceptual and cognitive effects of intricate black designs on white, and vice versa. The imagery engages the imagination and stimulates the viewer to search and decode meaning from the patterned code. The perceptual experience may be likened to the subconscious exploration of a hyper-Rorschach (ink-blot therapy) image. The viewer brings themselves to the piece, and a synthesis of mind and image occurs.

The Judges vote went to:

Totem (renegade art/music stage)  - $1000

Every other entrant who received a vote will also receive $100 cash and a free ticket to Maitreya 2010

The Judges have further decided to make available $4000 as a grant for a major piece of installation art for Maitreya 2010.This piece will be presented at the beginning of the 2010 festival art prize.

The Art Prize was originally designed to encourage  people who wouldn't usually get creative to get involved, and with so few entries this year we dont think we achieved this. We believe the best way to remedy this is to ask for submissions from our community, which hopefully will encourage more people to enter in the future. Applications and Submissions for this grant must be received by September 30th 2009.

All submissions or any questions regarding the grant should be addressed to artcomp@maitreyafestival.com

Entries will close on 30th September and the winners announced here on October 31st

Thanks for all the support, yours in art always! c u next year!