Find Art Competitions

All competitions · Prize / award

ClosedClosed 14 Aug 2026

Portia Geach Memorial Award 2026

S.H. Ervin Gallery (National Trust NSW), administered with Perpetual · Sydney, Australia

Annual $30,000 portraiture award for Australian women artists, for a portrait painted from life of a person distinguished in art, letters or science; exhibited at S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney.

Your eligibility

Tell us about yourself and we will check these rules against your details. Nothing leaves your device until you sign in.

Who can enter

Location
Australia (by residence or nationality)
Age
No age limit
Career stage
Any
Mediums
Painting
Theme
portraiture
For
Women artists
Submission
Online submission
Also
Female Australian citizens, or British-born Australian residents, resident in Australia for the preceding 12 months; permanent residents ineligible.

About

The Portia Geach Memorial Award is Australia's longest-running portrait prize for women. It is awarded for the best portrait painted from life of a man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters or the Sciences, by a female artist resident in Australia.

Entry is online only, with a high-resolution image, a 200-word artist statement and a signed statement from the sitter. Finalists are exhibited at the S.H. Ervin Gallery on Observatory Hill, Sydney, and a $1,000 People's Choice Award is also given.

Noticed something missing or wrong?

Dates wrong, call opened, rules changed? Tell us and we will fix it.