New records for Australia’s most prestigious print award
• Highest number of entries ever received from all corners of Australia
• Biggest prize pool on offer
• Huge diversity of printmaking mediums to line the gallery, from cassette tape to canvas
AUGUST 2025: The Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Australia’s longest-running and most prestigious printmaking prize, returns this August with a record-breaking year of entries and a diverse exhibition of contemporary print pieces from across the country.
A total of 333 entries were received — the highest number on record for the Print Award, which has been running since 1976. 68 finalists were selected for the biennial acquisitive prize, including 18 First Nations finalists (another record in 2025) and 5 finalists in the Emerging Artist category.
Audiences can expect to see a diverse range of works, from small to large-scale, across a variety of printmaking methods. These include time-honoured traditions such as intaglio, lithography and linocut, as well as experimental and interdisciplinary approaches such as using sound on cassette tape, installation, and found woven books — all of which underscore the adaptability and vitality of printmaking.
Of the 333 entries, Western Australian artists made up half the cohort, alongside submissions from nearly every state and territory, highlighting the Award’s strong national footprint.
Curator & Collections Lead, Abigail Moncrieff, said this year’s response from artists across the country had been extraordinary, drawing one of the most diverse and ambitious collections of work in recent years.
“The Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award continues to hold a very special place in the Australian arts landscape. To receive a record number of entries, and see the diversity of printmaking techniques in this year’s submissions, is a reflection of the depth and breadth of printmaking across the country right now. Mitch Cairns, Jon Campbell, Jacky Cheng, Ella Sutherland and Rebecca Beardmore are just a few of the national artists we are delighted to present.
One of my favourite things about the Print Award this year is our renewed commitment to cultivating entries from First Nations and emerging artists. Jonathon World Peace, Robert Fielding and Mervyn Street complement many other outstanding artists to form an exceptional exhibition in 2025 that we are excited to share with our audiences.”
Winners will be selected by a national judging panel, including Hannah Matthews, Director/CEO of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts; art historian, curator and writer Dr Jessyca Hutchens, lecturer at the School of Indigenous Studies and Co-Director at the Berndt Museum at UWA; and Trent Walter, a Sri Lankan–Australian exhibiting artist, printer and publisher based in Naarm/Melbourne.
Following an increase to the prize pool this year, finalists will vie for the First Prize worth $20,000, as well as the First Nations Award and the Young and Emerging Award, each worth $5,000. The winning work will be acquired into the City of Fremantle Art Collection – the largest municipal art collection in Western Australia.
Winners will be announced at the Opening Night on Friday 15 August, presented by Dr Jessyca Hutchens.
The 2025 winners will join a high-calibre alumni of artists including NSW performer and artist Mike Parr; Fremantle-based artist Sam Bloor; Sally Morgan, one of Australia’s best-known Indigenous authors and artists; and, most recently, Jacky Cheng, Stephen Brameld, Jay Staples and Kieren Karritpul.
The Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award will be open daily from 10:00am – 5:00pm, from 16 August to 21 September. All exhibited artworks are for sale, excluding the winning piece.
Find out more: https://wfac.org.au/whats-on/post/2025-fremantle-arts-centre-print-award/
ENDS
For information, interviews & images:
Alice Hamilton
Detail Marketing Communications
alice@detail.com.au
0415 576 577
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
• The First Nations Print Prize is supported by Wesfarmers Arts
• The Young Emerging Print Prize is supported by Fremantle Community Bank
ABOUT THE PRINT AWARD
The Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award was founded in 1976, just a few years after the establishment of the Fremantle Arts Centre. Initiated by Ian Templeman, the prize was designed to attract interstate artists and audiences to the young gallery.
Now in its 47th year, the Print Award is the Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre’s longest-running exhibition series and Australia’s premier print award. The prize attracts entries from a huge range of established and emerging artists from across the nation.
