Terms & Conditions

1.Theme

  1. The Mandorla Art Award employs a thematic spiritual inspiration which changes with each exhibition. These inspirations are defined by quotations from the Bible and all participating artists are required to interpret these in their own way.
  2. Submissions for the 2026 Mandorla Art Award must clearly demonstrate a direct relationship to the theme. Submissions that do not meet this criteria will not be accepted into the Finalists Exhibition.
  3. The theme for the 2026 Mandorla Art Award is:

What is Truth?
Reference text:
“I was afraid, because I was naked: and I hid myself” – Genesis 3:10

2. Prizes

  1. The major prize for the 2026 Mandorla Art Award is a $30,000 acquisitive prize.
  2. The winning work will become part of the permanent collection of the Mandorla Centre for Inner Peace Inc, and is kept in trust at the Mandorla Art Gallery at New Norcia, WA.
  3. The $30,000 prize money includes Mandorla’s acquisition of the work.
  4. In addition to the major acquisitive award, there will be four non-acquisitive prizes:
    $7,000 Highly Commended Prize, sponsored by Perth Catholic Archdiocese 
    $7,000 Highly Commended The Rev’d John Ward Memorial Prize, sponsored by Perth Anglican Diocese 
    $7,000 Emerging Artist Prize, sponsored by The University of Notre Dame Australia
    $2,000 People’s Choice Prize, provided by the Benedictine Community
  5. Open to all finalist who elect to enter this prize category is the New Norcia Artist Residency Prize. This is a 1-month residency awarded to an artist to create new work at the Old Trading Post Artist Studio, on the site of the New Norcia Benedictine Monastery. It includes a $10,000 fee towards all travel and residency costs, as well as accommodation, studio space and meals.  

3. Entry Requirements and Details

  1. Entry to The Mandorla Art Award is open to all Professional Artists resident in Australia, aged 18 years and over. Artists may be emerging or established, however, the definition of Professional for the purposes of this award is: an artist who has specialised training in the artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions), is recognised as a professional by their peers (artists working in the same artistic field) and has a consistent exhibition history.
  2. Artists wishing to be considered for the New Norcia Artist Residency Prize must check the category box on the entry form at the time of entry. The winning artist will be required to undertake the 1-month residency in spring of 2027. Please see the website for selection process and residency information.
  3. Artists wishing to be considered for the Emerging Artist Prize must check the category box at the time of entry and meet at least one of the following two criteria of an emerging artist:

·         Be in the first 5 years of their career as a practicing artist ie from the commencement of graduating from fine arts training or started exhibiting artworks in publicly accessible art venues.

Or

·         May have practiced for any period of time but have never done any of the following; gained representation by a commercial gallery; won a significant art prize; held a solo exhibition in a major public art gallery or museum; been in a key national level exhibition, such as a biennale; received a significant public art commission; had artwork purchased by a state or national level collection.

  1. Mandorla Art Award entry is limited to one artwork per person.
  2. Artworks can be in any visual art medium.
  3. Artworks must be executed during the 12 months leading up to the close of entries, commencing February 2025, and must be completed at the time of entry.
  4. Artworks must not have been previously publicly exhibited.
  5. Prints and other mediums created in editions are to be the AP (Artist’s Proof) or first of the edition, with the remaining editions not previously exhibited in any form and not to be on shown during the 2026 Mandorla Art Award. 
  6. Artworks must be for sale in the Mandorla Art Award exhibition.
  7. 2D artworks must be no larger than 153 x 153cm including the frame and must not exceed 15kg.
  8. 3D works must be no larger than 120 x 120 x 120cm and must not exceed 50kg.
  9. VR, video and other screen-based mediums can be any length. If specialised equipment is required the artist must provide this for the duration of the exhibition.
  10. VR, video and other screen-based mediums cannot be publicly viewable in their entirety before or during the 2026 Mandorla Art Award exhibition.
  11. Multi-component pieces are only accepted where they constitute a single artwork and do not exceed the specified dimensions and weight when displayed.
  12. Artworks must be the original work of the artist and not infringe copyright.
  13. If AI technology is used to produce the artwork, this must be clearly stated in the artist statement and details provided at the time of entry.
  14. Failure to comply with any of the conditions of entry will deem the entry disqualified and refunds will not be offered.
  15. Entry is via the online Entry Form only and must be completed and submitted by 7pm AWST, Wednesday 18 February 2026. Entries received after the closing date and time will not be accepted.
  16. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $AU50, which must be made online at the time of submission.
  17. The Artist Statement and Artist Biography will be used for publication purposes. Artists must finalise their statement and biography prior to submitting the entry to ensure the character limit is not exceeded and spelling and grammar are correct, as no late changes will be accepted.
  18. The Artist Statement and Artist Biography may be edited for length and consistency prior to publication. The Curator will provide the artist with edited text prior to publication if significant changes are required.

4.  Selection of Finalists and Prize Winners

  1. Acceptance into this Award is via a selection process only. The Selection & Judging Panel will comprise two contemporary visual arts specialists and one theologian.
  2. Selected Finalists’ artworks must be available for display at Holmes à Court Gallery from 4 May until 31 May 2026 and then for four months beyond this date for the Mandorla Touring Exhibition.
  3. The selection of the New Norcia Artist Residency Award will be made by the Mandorla Art Award Committee.
  4. The Selection & Judging Panel will consider the artist’s approach to the theme and artistic excellence when making the selection of artworks to be included in the Finalists’ Exhibition and when awarding prizes.
  5. Selection and Prize judgement is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Lobbying the Curator, Panellists or representatives of the Mandorla Art Award will result in instant disqualification and preclude entry in future Awards.
  6. The winner will be advised by telephone immediately after judging takes place on Thursday 7 May 2026.

5.  Sale of Artworks

  1. If the artist is registered for GST, the selling price of the artwork must be GST inclusive.
  2. A commission of 40% will apply to artworks sold during the Mandorla Art Award. For artists represented by a commercial gallery, this commission will be divided equally between the representing gallery and the Mandorla Art Award.
  3. Artists will be notified in the event of a sale. On no account are artists to organise their own sales of work in the exhibition for the duration they are on show, including other editions of the same artwork.
  4. Artworks selected to tour to local venues after the main 2026 Mandorla Art Award exhibition will be subject to the same conditions of sale. 

6. Ownership, freight and Risk/Responsibilities

  1. The Artist retains ownership of the artwork until sold and paid in full.
  2. Mandorla will exercise all due care in the handling and protection of the artwork.
  3. Each artist is responsible for acquiring their own insurance to cover the artwork during transportation and while on display in the exhibition.
  4. All freighting costs will be the responsibility of the artist, including return freight costs for unsold artworks.
  5. Unsold artworks must be collected by the artist or their agent at the closure of the exhibition as directed by the Curator.

7. Touring Exhibition

  1. After the Finalists’ Exhibition at Holmes à Court Gallery, a selection of works will be chosen to be part of the Mandorla Art Award Touring Exhibition. The Touring Exhibition provides further exposure for the selected artists’ work for approximately four months to local venues connected to St John of God Health Care and New Norcia’s Mandorla Gallery.
  2. All Finalists’ artworks are to be made available for the touring exhibition.
  3. Artists will be notified prior to collection day if their artwork has been selected to tour.
  4. Not all Finalists’ work will be able to be selected for the Touring Exhibition due to restrictions within the touring venues.
  5. At the conclusion of the Touring Exhibition, artworks will be transported to where they will be available for collection or freight arrangements made with the artist.

8. Copyright, Publicity and Promotional Material

  1. Mandorla Art Award respects that artists always retain the copyright of the image of their own work. This acknowledgement of copyright extends to all entrants.
  2. As a condition of entry, artists accept the image of their work, if selected as a finalist, can be used by the Mandorla Art Award Committee and the New Norcia Museum & Art Gallery for the purposes of promoting the exhibition. Artists’ work will always be appropriately acknowledged and no alterations or changes will be made without consent.
  3. Mandorla reserves the right to document, reproduce or otherwise use images of any finalist’s artwork entered into the Art Awards for purposes associated with promoting the Award, without charge. This extends only for the promotional period of the exhibition in which the artwork is featured and pre-exhibition promotion of the consecutive Award. The exception to this is the winning and highly commended artworks – images of these works will remain on the Mandorla website as a record of the Award.
  4. Should the images be used for fundraising, the artist will be consulted and any resultant profit will be shared between the artist/s and the Committee at an agreed rate. The artist reserves the right to refuse use of their artwork images for commercial use.
  5. Artists will be responsible for satisfying copyright requirements, should they have quoted or reproduced from any printed or other material.
  6. As an acquisitive award, the Mandorla Art Award winners are kept as an important collection of contemporary Christian art and are housed in the Mandorla Art Gallery at the Benedictine Monastery in New Norcia where all, or part of the collection, is housed and exhibited on a regular basis.
  7. Mandorla Art Award respects Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) and the special considerations needed to protect custodial interests. Mandorla only shares cultural knowledge, images, names and other information connected to a First Nation’s artist or artwork with the permission of the artist or their representing art centre or manager.