The third WAMA Art Prize, 2025 marks the first time the award has been presented within WAMA’s newly opened National Centre for Environmental Art.

This biennial exhibition attracted more than 450 entries from artists across Australia, underscoring the resonance that the theme of art and nature continues to hold within our creative community. The 54 works selected in this exhibition encompass many perspectives: from acknowledging the depth and power of First Nation’s Peoples knowledge of Country, to reflecting on the impact of climate change, as well as exploring the beauty and fragility of Australia’s flora and fauna.

The richness of the exhibition is reflected in the award-winning works. The major acquisitive prize was awarded to Victorian artist Kate Gorringe-Smith for her linocut White-faced Heron at Twilight, that creates with delicacy the flight of the heron. Three awards of excellence were presented to Deanne Gilson for Earth Shield, for protection, an ochre-on-paper work grounded in her deep cultural connections to Wadawurrung waterways; to Dolores Skowronski – Malloni for Grampians Bitter-pea, an intricate drawing capturing the delicate character of native flora and to Ro Murray for his series Against the Tide I, II, III, which innovatively repurposes pianola rolls to convey the shifting moods of water.

Across the exhibition works depicting flora, fauna, landscapes, waterways and the sky range from large-scale drawings to intimate paper structures that encourage us to reflect on and care for the remarkable environments we are privileged to inhabit.

2025 WAMA Art Prize Judging Panel: Dr Vicki Couzens, Suzanne Davies,  Anne Virgo and Dr Jacqueline Healy

Exhibition Curator: Dr Jacqueline Healy

Spring is an earthwork and community care project created with a ring of verdant native grasses that represents a vivid surge of life sustained by an invisible source. The work responds to its site—a vast, nutrient-depleted field on Wama’s grounds. Created through the slow process of soil remediation and native grass recovery, the project will unfold over many years in collaboration with local community groups and land stewards.

Conceived within a climate shaped by drought, wildfire, and renewal, the ring of grasses will be most visible during drought or after fire.

Spring is an aperture through which to behold the interconnectedness of our living planet through repair and regeneration of the land. It’s a living monument that reminds us that what appears on the surface tells a deeper story of what lies below.

Artists: Jemila MacEwan in collaboration with Richard MacEwan

Visit WAMA Gardens to view the Spring installation.

The National Centre for Environmental Art at WAMA Foundation explores diverse and creative meditations on the natural world. We represent a meeting point of contemporary and traditional artistic practices and environmental narratives,  presented through a dynamic program of environmental art in all its forms, featuring works from leading and emerging artists whose practice is inspired by their environment.

Designed to sit proudly within its native surrounds, the National Centre for Environmental Art comprises the gallery, café, retail store, and multi-purpose learning centre, brings the spirit of WAMA to life.

Jan van Schaik of MvS Architects collaborated with Taut Architects to design the WAMA precinct based on the principle that humans are part of nature.

In his design statement, van Schaik said “the building is designed to tie in with the landscape in which it is situated … the design techniques used gives the sense that the landscape is drawn inside the building. It’s part of the mechanism of the landscape, like an outdoor room.”

At WAMA, the building and the landscape are one – a place to reflect, engage, and be inspired.