Judges

2026

Sarah Landro

Sarah Landro is a photographer based in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, living on Djugan and Yawuru Country. Her practice operates at the intersection of contemporary documentary photography, community-led creative development and cross-cultural collaboration, with a focus on ethical representation and long-term artistic exchange.

Sarah is the Director of Camera Story, a Kimberley-based organisation that supports First Nations women to develop contemporary photographic practices, expand professional networks and build sustainable creative careers. Through mentoring, exhibitions and skills-based programs, her work creates pathways between remote communities and national arts platforms, supporting artists to present self-determined narratives within contemporary art contexts.

From 2013 to 2025, Sarah was Special Projects Manager at the Perth Centre for Photography, where she produced exhibitions and sector development initiatives across Western Australia. She worked with emerging and established artists to deliver contemporary photographic programs, with responsibilities spanning exhibition coordination, partnerships, fundraising, artist support and public programs.

Across her practice, Sarah is committed to expanding access to contemporary photography for artists working in regional and remote contexts, while contributing to a broader national dialogue around representation, authorship and cultural sovereignty within the arts sector.

Molly Hunt

Molly Hunt is a Balanggarra and Yolŋu woman, and a multidisciplinary designer and animator working at the intersection of storytelling, culture, and community. With a background in branding, motion design, and visual communication, she has delivered creative work across national and international platforms, including collaborations with organisations such as Google, TikTok, and FIFA, and has exhibited internationally, including in Sweden.

As a First Nations creative, Molly uses her platform to amplify and celebrate Blak voices—particularly First Nations women—through powerful, narrative-led design and visual storytelling that explores identity, connection, and cultural continuity. Her work is grounded in connection to Country and driven by a commitment to representation, cultural strength, and authenticity.

Passionate about creating pathways for the next generation, Molly is dedicated to uplifting and inspiring First Nations youth, using creativity as a tool to foster pride, visibility, and opportunity within the community.

Jody Loaring

Jody Loaring is a distinguished Western Australian visual artist and educator whose practice is deeply anchored in the state's diverse landscapes. Working at the intersection of contemporary sculpture and traditional fibre art, Loaring’s work focuses on the integrity of the making, transforming gathered materials—such as driftwood, grass fibres, and reclaimed rope—into resolved forms that explore themes of memory and place.

In a landmark recognition for Western Australian craftsmanship, Loaring was recently named a Master Artisan by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship in Geneva. This international distinction led to her selection for the Homo Faber Biennale in Venice, where she became the first artist from Western Australia invited to exhibit. Her inclusion in the global Homo Faber Guide affirms her status as a master maker whose work demonstrates exceptional skill and material intelligence.

With over three decades of professional practice, Loaring is a familiar name within the Western Australian arts community. She has a long-standing history with the Kimberley Art Prize, having been a multiple-time winner across Sculpture and Mixed Media categories since 1998.

Beyond her studio practice, Jody is a committed mentor to Western Australian artists, serving as a Lecturer of Visual Arts at North Regional TAFE since 2017. As a judge for the 2026 prize, she brings a unique perspective that balances a rigorous international standard of craftsmanship with a profound understanding of the regional Australian creative experience.

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE

Vicki Katthagen

Vicki Katthagen is a photographic artist based in Gurambilbarra/Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Her practice centres on macro botanical photography, exploring the relationship between nature and humanity through abstraction, structure, and colour psychology.

Raised in the small Far North Queensland town of South Johnstone, Katthagen brings a deep understanding of regional life and the important role the arts play in connecting communities and supporting cultural development outside metropolitan centres.

She holds a Bachelor of Photography from James Cook University and a Master of Arts (Photography) from Photographic Studies College.

Katthagen has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions across Australia and internationally, including in Spain, the United States, and South Africa. Her work has received accolades including Works on Paper at the 70th Townsville Art Society Art Competition and publication in international photography books and online features.

Alongside her studio practice, Katthagen contributes to the arts sector through governance, grants assessment, curatorial projects, workshop coordination, and judging across photography and visual arts competitions. She also serves as an Arts in Health Consumer Representative, supporting the integration of art into healthcare environments.

She values work that demonstrates technical skill and integrity and is informed by a considered artistic philosophy and a meaningful conceptual relationship to its subject.

2025

Vernon Ah Kee

Vernon Ah Kee, born in 1967 in Innisfail, Queensland, is a renowned Australian contemporary artist and activist of Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji, and Gugu Yimithirr heritage. His work spans drawing, painting, text-based art, photography, video, and installation, critically examining race, identity, and Australia's colonial history.

Ah Kee's striking charcoal portraits of family members challenge stereotypes, while his conceptual text pieces confront racism and privilege. A co-founder of the Indigenous artist collective ProppaNOW, Ah Kee advocates for urban Aboriginal artists and reshapes perceptions of Indigenous identity. ProppaNOW won the prestigious 2022-24 Jane Lombard Prize for Arts and Social Justice.

His art has been showcased at major international exhibitions, including the Tate Modern, Venice Biennale, and Istanbul Biennial. His powerful video work tall man, featuring footage from the 2004 Palm Island riots, is jointly held by the Tate, London, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

Ah Kee's work boldly addresses political issues such as immigration, Indigenous incarceration, and systemic racism. His legacy is one of resilience and a relentless commitment to amplifying Indigenous perspectives on Australia's past and present.

Clancy McDowell

Clancy McDowell is the Executive Officer of the Kimberley Arts Network (KAN) in Western Australia. She relocated from Sydney to the Kimberley over two decades ago, bringing with her a background in fine arts and film.

Over the years, she has worked with media, arts and community organisations, including Goolarri Media, the ABC, and Traditional Owner groups. As a consultant she has worked with the Broome Fringe Festival, local governments, schools and other organisations on innovative community-focussed projects that use arts and creativity to inspire community expression and social cohesion.

Clancy has driven the growth of the Kimberley Arts Network and currently sits on the Board of Regional Arts WA. She has sat on other boards including Theatre Kimberley and Broome Primary School, and is deeply engaged with her local community in the West Kimberley. Clancy has her own practice of hand stitching and contemporary sashiko, working with unique Japanese, hand-printed, upcycled, or vintage fabrics.

Philip Thompson

Philip Thompson is a freelance photographer based in Broome, Western Australia, specializing in fashion, intimate lifestyle scenes, portraits, creative shoots, events, and remote location photography. Operating under the moniker "Boyfrombeyond Photography," he has established himself as one of Broome's premier photographers.

He was the winner of The Kimberley Arts Network People's Choice Award 2024, winner of Incredible Edible mixed media People's Choice Award Broome, his work has featured in several international travel magazines and on billboards at Broome International Airport and he recently worked with Tourism WA and Australia's North West on promotional videography projects.

He continues to shoot regularly at local cultural events such as a Taste of Broome, Cinefest, Blak Pride, Survival Day, Fringe Festival where his photography style is a blend of photojournalism and storytelling.

For more information or to view his portfolio, you can visit his social media profiles at Boyfrombeyond Photography on instagram or Facebook.

Instagram | Facebook

2024

Benjamin Loaring

Benjamin creates artworks that express a viewpoint of Social issues, historical narratives and concepts related to West Australian and wider Australian context through his art processes of sculpture, painting, photography and installation he materialises his own understandings of the world.

Loaring has works held in the public collection of the Shire of Derby West Kimberley, the Elizabeth and Lloyd Horn Collection and numerous private collections throughout Australia and internationally.

His accolades include two time winner of the acquisitive Kimberley Art and Photography Prize 2016 & 2019; View to Asia Outdoor Sculpture Prize, Broome winner 2019 and 3rd place 2018; Sculpture Award Shinju Matsuri Art Prize, Broome winner 2018 & 2015; Shinju Matsuri Art Prize winner of painting category, Broome, 2011; Highly Commended Award winner at the Shinju Matsuri 2014.

Website

Pearl Proud

Pearl was born in Durban, South Africa and migrated to Australia in 1987. She is a Zulu Traditional Healer, with a background in Psychology, Governance, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Pearl has held a range of board positions and overseen the inception and strategic evolution of boards with a footprint in the Arts, Health, Mental Health, and Tertiary sectors; and has held clinical and management positions in private practice, government, non-for-profit, social services, and corporate sectors.

Pearl has a commitment to actively contribute to the civic, social, cultural, and artistic life in Western Australia, she was Patron for the Perth Arts Festival, including for the 50th Anniversary Perth Festival, the Founding Patron for the Perth Writers Festival, and a Medici Donor. Pearl is passionate about the Arts, is an advocate for diversity in the Arts, champions First Nations and Intercultural artistic expression, and believes in the First Nations First principle in the framing of our cultural dialogue. Her civic and philanthropic contribution acknowledgements include the national Living Legend Award 2012.

Fiona Gavino

Fiona of Australian, Filipino, and Māori heritage, has been described as an intercultural artist working the traditional into the contemporary. Gavino graduated from Charles Darwin University with a BA Visual Arts in 2006 and was a practicing artist there for 12 years. Her work features in Hot Springs; the Northern Territory & Contemporary Australian Artists (Macmillan Art Publishing), in 2007 she relocated to Western Australia and currently lives and works in Fremantle. In 2014 Gavino was a recipient of an Asialink Residency and was invited to return the following year to exhibit at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines with a solo show, In-between-spaces. Recently Gavino marked 25 years of practice with her critically celebrated exhibition Making Ground Breaking Ground.

Website

Judging will take place at the venue. The winner of the Prize will be announced at the official opening.
The judges’ decisions are final and cannot be contested.
Council and curators reserve the right of the judges to withhold prizes in any section should the supporting information be found to be false.

Expression of Interest