Talent Shines at Paint the Port

A NOSTAGLIC piece of artwork capturing the iconic Harbour Festival has won Gladstone Port’s

Corporation’s (GPC) new Paint the Port category.

Christine Ward was awarded $500 cash prize for her artwork ‘Festival Time’ in the category, the Harbour

Festival’s 60th Anniversary.

The amazing artwork offers a glimpse into the past through mixed media including old photographs and

festival programmes.

The new category was introduced earlier this year to celebrate 60 years of Gladstone’s iconic Harbour

Festival.

The top cash prize of $1000 prize went to Jane Steers, a previous Paint the Port winner, for her incredible

realistic piece, “Tugboat Life”.

For the first time in the competition’s nine-year history, two junior artists including Ruby Farr and Arlo

Thetford were also awarded the lower primary prize – encouraging more pint sized artists to pick up a

paintbrush.

Chief Operating Officer Craig Walker said the competition was again popular with 114 artworks including 12

in the special category for 2022.

“The popularity of the competition is growing each year thanks to returning artists. It’s not uncommon to

see the same artists popping up year after year as well as a handful of new names and young artists – it

goes to show how much locals love the competition for the pure love of art,” Mr Walker said.

“Congratulations to everyone who entered and took time to paint our amazing port – there’s no doubt from

the amazing artwork on display that plenty of spaces and places at the Port today and the bygones have

inspired this year’s entrants,” he said.

“I encourage everyone in the community to visit the ArtMatters gallery and see the artwork on display –

having a community gallery is so important for our community.”

Guest Judge and former art teacher Roslyn Head said she was delighted to see so many talented pieces.

“I was looking for drafting skills, the ability to invent a good image, good composition. I like to see some

media skills for the artists’ selected media. The artwork must have something to say – to have some intent,

meaning and value,” Mrs Head said.

“There were so many outstanding entries and it made judging very difficult but the winners really captured

the spirit of the port through history, detail, imagination and colour,” she said.

The competition provides artists from Gladstone, Rockhampton or Bundaberg with an opportunity to

present their unique portrayal of port activities or infrastructure for a chance to win cash prizes.

GPC will celebrate a decade of Paint the Port next year.

Artwork will be displayed at the Paint the Port Exhibition at ARTmatters Gallery, 3 Pitt Street, from 31 March to Friday 22 April 2022.

The category winners include:

• Jane Steers with her artwork “Tugboat Life” for the Open Category
• Matilda Arlegui Pereira with her artwork “Nature By The Port” for the High School Category
• Liam Tangey with his artwork “Me And My Dog At East Shores” for the Upper Primary School Category (Year 4 to 6)
• Dual Winners – Ruby Farr with her artwork “Wonder Of East Shores” and Arlo Thetford with his artwork “Which Shade Shall I Choose” for the Lower Primary School Category (Prep to Year 3)
• Christine Ward’s “Festival Time” with her artwork for the new category ‘Celebrating 60 years of the Gladstone Harbour Festival’