A POPULAR landscape art competition will be used as a new marketing tool to promote the McLaren Vale and Fleurieu Peninsula region.
The Fleurieu Biennale, which awards $50,000 to the major prize winner, has changed its name to the Fleurieu Art Prize and will be held every two years from 2011.
Fleurieu Art Prize board member Marc Allgrove said the event “arguably the world’s richest landscape art prize” promoted the arts, as well as food, wine and tourism.
“We want it to be the most sought after art prize in the world,” said Mr Allgrove, who is chief executive at Chapel Hill winery. “It has the potential to be South Australia’s Archibald Prize an event that national and international artists seek to enter and seek to win.”
The event, started in 1998 by local identities David Dridan, Tony Parkinson and the late Greg Trott, also has four minor categories including Vistas, Water, Food and Wine, and Youth Scholarship, which carry $10,000 in prize money for each winner.
Mr Allgrove said the board, chaired by Libby Raupach, hoped to use the art event as leverage to increase visitors to the region. A Symposium with renowned landscape artists will be held on October 23, with one day painting competitions held on November 13 and 20, as a prelude to the main event in November 2011
Details at http://www.artprize.com.au
