A new art prize of $20,000 has been named after the celebrated female artist Wendy Paramor, who spent part of her life in Liverpool.
The inaugural Paramor prize: Art + innovation is part of a range of new annual art awards in Liverpool which start from early in 2015.
A $5,000 Mayoral Award will also be issued to the artwork that best addresses the guiding principles of Liverpool City Council.
And a $1,000 People’s Choice Award will be issued to the artwork voted most popular.
A curated selection of works will be exhibited at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.
Winners will be selected by a panel of guest judges.
Entries close on December 12, having opened on October 31.
An awards opening night will be held at Casula Powerhouse on January 31, 2015 and selected works will be exhibited there until March 15, 2015.
Wendy Paramor, who was born in Melbourne in 1938, moved to West Hoxton in 1966, where leading architect Philip Cox designed her house, which was built into the ground.
In October 1967 her son Luke was born; she never married his father, the painter Vernon Treweeke.
Her artistic practice was innovative and forward thinking and as a local Liverpool resident, Paramor exemplified the artistic creativity of the Liverpool region.
Paramor died at the age of 37 in 1975 and a large collection of her works were gifted to Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and the Liverpool City Art, Heritage and Local Studies Collection.
Next year, 2015, commemorates the 40th anniversary of Paramor’s death.
Artwork submissions for the Paramor award should address ideas about innovation and thinking about our future, said a Casula Powerhouse spokesperson.
“The union of contemporary art and innovation in creative practice has the potential to create new knowledge, ideas and processes.
“The Paramor prize encourages new ways of seeing, experiencing and interpreting the world around us.
“The Liverpool City Council vision for the future is to be the city of the great South West – a region of opportunity, prosperity and diversity.
Innovation is a guiding principle of Liverpool City Council and the Paramor award provides an opportunity to develop new solutions and creative explorations of the new challenges and opportunities in the rapidly growing South West Sydney region.”
More information: http://www.casulapowerhouse.com/exhibitions/paramor-prize.aspx
