Home / Events / Katherine Prize - Art & Craft Awards

When viewing the Art section of the Katherine Show in 1975, local resident Brian Lambert felt that local artists needed a bit of encouragement, so for the 1976 show he donated a substantial amount of money for an Art Award that related to and identified with the Northern Territory. The winning piece then became an acquisition of the Katherine Community, held in trust by the Katherine Town Council. Since then the awards have attracted enormous interest from Territory artists and the prize money has also increased and still today donated by the Lambert Family.

In 1989 Kathleen and Peter Short, along with the Katherine Show Society and the NT Government, donated money to the award to include a prize for Craftwork. This addition to the Katherine Prize has created a unique situation, where art and craft are exhibited together, something that is very rarely seen in the art world. The winning article from this section becomes an acquisition of the Katherine community. Now the Katherine Town Council donates the money towards the Craft Award.

In addition to the winning art works, the council acquires other art pieces from the exhibition, which had resulted in the Katherine Community being owners of an extremely varied range of artworks, all depicting the artists interpretation of some aspect of the Territory. The collection of art and craft over the years is something Katherine can be proud of.