Shepparton Art Museum has announced Ellen Lee as the inaugural winner of the Theodore Urbach Landscape Prize and Studio Scholarship.
The new $10,000 award and scholarship aims to encourage exploration in the field of Australian landscape painting.
This is not Lee’s first time capturing the eye of the judges.
The artist presented a solo exhibition at SAM after being named the SAM Spotlight artist in 2023.
Her art features large-scale, abstract pieces that explore her personal and sensory connections with nature.
Alongside Lee, Wendy Jagger and Anna Mackrell were named as the two runners-up.
A stacked judgement panel of art professors and experts, led by SAM CEO Melinda Martin, determined the successful applicants.
Associate professor RMIT and SAM board member Dr Drew Pettifer said the difficulty the panel faced in deciding one singular winner out of the seven applicants was a testament to the strength of the region’s rich arts and culture.
“I was genuinely impressed by the standard of the applications to the Urbach this year,” he said.
“Ellen Lee embodies so many of the values central to the Urbach and SAM.
“Working in an expanded painting practice, Lee engages with landscape, environment, place, and time through careful observation and generative site responsiveness.
“We look forward to the outcomes of her engagement with the site and community surrounding SAM."
Briar Stevens from the Theodore Urbach Trust congratulated the three artists.
“We are delighted that Theodore Urbach’s vision can now be realised through his testamentary charitable trust to support appreciation of the Australian landscape and the translation of that into art,” he said.
As the Urbach winner, Lee will receive a $5000 cash prize and another $5000 for support during her three-month scholarship at SAM's on-site artist studio from the beginning of May to the end of July 2024.
Her focus during this period will centre on the immediate surrounds of the museum, Victoria Park Lake, and the bird life that inhabits it.
As runners-up, Wendy Jagger and Anna Mackrell will each be awarded $2500 in recognition of their dedication in developing their applications.
Additionally, Jagger was awarded access to the on-site artist studio for one month later in the year to further expand her practice.
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