News and Media

ARTBANK CELEBRATES 45TH ANNIVERSARY AND ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PRIZE 

As part of the 45th anniversary celebrations, Artbank has announced the establishment of the first Artbank Prize. All living artists — emerging or established, represented or independent — working in any medium collected by Artbank and suitable for public leasing are eligible to apply. One finalist will be selected from each state and territory, with the winning work to be acquired for a maximum purchase price of $20,000. An exhibition featuring the eight finalists will be held at Artbank’s premises alongside a public program that celebrates the artists and their works. The submission dates for the Artbank Prize will be announced soon.

• August 7 2025;
• January 2026; Open Submission Process, Guidelines published.
• April 30 2026; Close Submission Process
• June 2026; Finalists announced
• August 2026: Awards event at Artbank. Announcement of Winner.

For more information please contact Artbank enquiries@artbank.gov.au

By Lara Chapman for the Guardian

Wed 30 Jul 2025 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jul/30/a-sidney-nolan-above-the-sofa-inside-artbank-the-collection-that-lets-you-rent-a-masterpiece

A major limited edition publication and two new exhibitions will be unveiled this August, celebrating 45 years of Artbank, Australia’s national art collection and leasing program. Launching on 8 August, On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection, is a significant publication that delves into the history of the dynamic program, its impact on the contemporary art landscape in Australia over 45 years, and the incredible artworks within the collection. 

MEDIA RELEASE: June 2025

ARTBANK CELEBRATES 45 YEARS WITH LANDMARK PUBLICATION 

AND EXHIBITION - ON DISPLAY: THE STORY OF ARTBANK

Melbourne, Australia: A major limited edition publication and two new exhibitions will be unveiled this August, celebrating 45 years of Artbank, Australia’s national art collection and leasing program. Launching on 8 August, On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection, is a significant publication that delves into the history of the dynamic program, its impact on the contemporary art landscape in Australia over 45 years, and the incredible artworks within the collection. 

Established in 1980 as a federal artist support program, Artbank is a unique public art collection and leasing program that operates under the philosophy that art is for everyone. Conceived with the bold vision to nurture Australian creativity by acquiring works by living Australian artists while simultaneously bringing art into the public domain, the Artbank collection is a significant national asset, including over 11,000 works by more than 3,500 artists from across Australia, celebrating the diversity of creative expression across the country. With over half the collection on lease at any time, Artbank places contemporary Australian art in homes, workplaces and public institutions in an affordable and accessible way, promoting the value of Australian contemporary art to the broader public. 

Zoë Rodriguez, Artbank Director, said: “On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection tells Artbank’s story from its origins through to today, highlighting its enduring cultural impact and role in embedding art into everyday Australian life. It reinforces the impact that Artbank has had on the Australian arts sector over the past 45 years and its enduring and far-reaching legacy.”

The publication features a rich compilation of artwork images, client displays, archival material, and personal reflections from artists, gallerists, and clients, alongside a detailed text tracing the Artbank story.  This includes quotes from artists about their experience of being collected by Artbank, with artist Tony Albert noting: “My work was purchased for the Artbank collection while I was an emerging artist, which was a really wonderful opportunity for me at that time. For any artist, being part of a national collection gives immense validation. It is like the pinnacle of what you’re looking for.”

Inaugural Artbank Director Graeme Sturgeon who led Artbank from 1980 until 1990, is quoted in the book speaking to the importance of the organisation for the country: “It’s probably more accurate to describe Artbank as a library of art, rather than a bank. We don’t take the work and keep it hidden away.” 

Respected Gallerist Roslyn Oxley, Director, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery also speaks to Artbank’s imprint on the sector in relation to female artists: “Championing living women artists is something that has always been important to us, and to have Artbank’s support throughout the years has been so important to those artists and the gallery. Artbank has most definitely been at the forefront of supporting living women artists.”

On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection

Available free at Artbank from 8 August 2025

On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible art collection will be available from Artbank from 8 August 2025. Please contact Artbank for more information.

Name: Susie Cornish

Job Title: Art Consultant

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2004(-2007) and 2022

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:
I started at Artbank when the first Melbourne Showroom was established in leafy suburban High Street Armadale in 2004. Several interstate moves, employment in other areas of the art world and many years later, I am delighted to be back. Now situated in the edgy inner-city suburb of Collingwood, I work within a small Client Services team focused on leasing works from the Artbank collection.

What makes Artbank so unique and why I chose to return to the role is the vibrancy within the team, working together to support and promote Australian art through the leasing program which in turn funds the acquisition of new works from Australian artists.

The highlight of my job is meeting people who later become Artbank clients, matching personalities and spaces with works from the collection. On any given day I could be discussing art placement in share homes, private estates, small and big business, corporate and government departments; as well as working with architects, designers, stylists - the variety of people I meet is endless. Being one of the public faces of such a diverse collection of Australian contemporary art and sharing a workspace with so many artworks is a privilege, and it is rewarding connecting people with art they might never have otherwise encountered or considered.

Select an Artwork to represent you: Cybele Cox, White Shepherd, 2022, speckled stoneware, underglaze, glaze.

Short explanation of your artwork selection:
Cybele Cox is a multidisciplinary artist who explores representations of women, working primarily with hand built ceramic figures. This work is one of a series in the Artbank collection and is a play on the traditional masculine form of a toby jug.

I find it hard to walk past White Shepherd without stopping to admire her captivating attitude, demanding attention in spite of the small scale, and the pastel iridescent glaze that Cybele Cox has so expertly applied. Her slender arms on ballooning hips, she knows who she is as she jauntily reveals herself to you with confidence, as if provocatively asking her viewer - I know who I am, do you know who you are? White Shepherd makes herself too irresistible to ignore.

Name: Oskar Arnold

Job Title: Art Consultant

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2024

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank: I joined Artbank after working at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), STATION, and the Repatriation team in the Office for the Arts. As an Art Consultant at Artbank Melbourne, my job is essentially to create and nurture relationships between artworks and the people who lease them. This is a fascinating process – as both the artworks and the viewers differ so greatly. From pairing a work by Gordon Bennett with a client whose thesis was based upon his work, to placing a tapestry from 1982 on the set of a major American television program, there are so many fascinating stories of Artbank’s collection out in the world, where the general public can access the very best of Australian contemporary art.

Every week that I have worked here, I have seen and discovered something new, whether it be unusual older works from clients changing over after many years, or exciting new acquisitions fresh from the artist’s studio.

If you haven’t visited one of Artbank’s spaces, I strongly encourage you to come in and view the works on the racks. As Commonwealth assets, they belong to all of us.

Favourite artwork from the Artbank collection:  Pru La Motte, The Artist’s Wife, 1978, wool and cotton.

Short explanation of your artwork selection (200 words max):
This work exemplifies the eccentricities of the Artbank collection, and highlights how rewarding it can be to dig deep into the archive of works. This 1978 weaving by Pru La Motte, one of Australia’s foremost artist weavers, demonstrates the graphic and vivid style that is characteristic of her work. Inspired by West African and American weaving techniques, this work also reflects the feminist social context of the 1970’s, portraying the hard-working (likely long-suffering) wife of an artist, propelling him to the highest echelons of the art world, whilst juggling domestic labour and the encroach of an ominous underworld of anonymous faces below. Much like Artbank’s collection, there’s a lot going on!

Name: Martin Tokarczyk

Job Title: Art Consultant

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2021

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:
I look after several client bases at Artbank – ACT commercial, corporate and residential; Australian Commonwealth Government clients; and as an extension of this, our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) clients. Perhaps most interestingly the DFAT client base comprises Australian diplomatic missions overseas which include our Australian Embassies and High Commissions around the globe. 
With all these sectors I enjoy being able to use contemporary Australian art to help tell Australian stories that create a sense of place. Art has always been the great communicator, and it is a phenomenon that is able to cut through barriers that other modalities may have more trouble doing so. I enjoy working with my clients to create spaces that are engaging, compelling, and memorable. 

Favourite artwork from the Artbank collection: Christopher Bassi, Hibiscus, 2023, oil on canvas. (Part of a series)

Short explanation of your artwork selection (200 words max):
While my favourite work in collection can change from week to week (there are just too many crackers!), recently I’ve found myself coming back to this series by Christopher Bassi that was first shown together at The National in 2023. Bassi is an artist of Meriam, Yupungathi and British descent. His work speaks of an entanglement of history and place; of the personal and collective experience told through iconography and genre. 

I love how these works are able to evoke a great deal though their modest composition. You really get a sense of the languid heat of the tropics of his homelands in Zenadh Kes. The air seems thick and to me they embody a moment of calm perhaps before an impending tempest erupts – perhaps climatic or perhaps social. They are theatrical, poignant and reverent, and I would very much like them in my home! 

Name: Katie Tremschnig

Job Title: Collections Officer

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2023

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:
My working life so far has been dedicated to Australian photography and after years of being immersed in photography it’s refreshing to be surrounded by contemporary art in all mediums. My primary role at Artbank to ensure the art is ready for the leasing program including condition reporting and preparing it to travel safely to its temporary home; receipting it when it returns and carefully storing them in our state-of-the-art visible racks and storage spaces. Other tasks include assisting with inhouse installs and arranging framing for new acquisitions and coordinating conservation work required to keep the collection in show worthy condition. What I am loving about my time here is the opportunity spend time with contemporary art and constantly finding new gems when unpacking a delivery – either a new acquisition or a returned loan – with such a large collection I am continually rewarded by new discoveries.

Favourite artwork from the Artbank collection: Ash Garwood, Botany, 2014, gelatin silver prints, purchased 2017.
Short explanation of your artwork selection: In my first few days of opening and closing the racks in Melbourne I came across this epic triptych by Ash Garwood – a perfectly executed gelatin silver photograph. Working with both analogue and digital technologies Garwood fools us into believing that the photograph depicts a reality but instead she makes a perfect composition that doesn’t quite exist.

Name: Guy Louden

Job Title: Art Consultant & Collections Officer

What year did you join the Artbank team: 2024

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:
At Artbank I manage the leasing of the collection to WA clients, as well as a bit of registration, curatorial, and admin work. I’m the only Artbank worker based in WA, and part of my role is looking at how we can expand our presence here in the future.

It’s a privilege to work with Artbank, because it plays a crucial role in supporting and stimulating contemporary art in Australia. It makes important early-career acquisitions, and has been collecting excellent First Nations work for over 40 years.

Select an Artwork: Neville Niypula McArthur, Lake Baker, 2016

Short explanation of your artwork selection:
I feel nostalgic about this painting, because I met the artist around the time it was painted. When I met Mr McArthur, I was working for Warakurna Artists, an art centre based in a small desert community on Ngaanyatjarra lands in far east WA, near the border with NT and SA.

I worked at Warakurna only briefly, but it was a great place, on a sandy scrubby desert plain at the edge of a mountain range. One night a huge lighting storm passed low over the town, leaving in the desert a nearly perfect circle of hail stones – a thick layer of white ice on the red sand. Another day, Russell Crowe visited the art centre, arriving not by road but by private jet. He gave everyone Rabbitohs hats (though it’s a strictly AFL town).

Mr McArthur painted for Warakurna but was based at the time in an aged care facility in Wanarn, a couple of hours away. We took the Landcruiser out there, packed with canvas and paint, biscuits and tea. That day Mr McArthur worked on something quite like this, a painting in the Western Desert style showing his Country and its Tjukurrpa. In his earlier life he had been a great stockman, and as he painted he would gesture outwards from his place in the aged care centre to the surrounding desert.

Name: Courtney Kidd

Job Title: Art Consultant

What year did you join the Artbank team? 2003

Describe your role and what you enjoy about working for Artbank:
I came to this unique organisation from a background in visual arts writing and lecturing and this stood me in good stead for the role. Being passionate about the significance of art in contemporary Australian culture is an important part of it. In the position, I’ve acquired extensive knowledge of the Artbank collection and the unique place it holds as a leasing library of visual art. I enjoy the challenge of offering a high level of professional expertise while straddling commercial and artistic imperatives but the best bit is working with the terrific range of clients that utilise Artbank’s collection.

Favourite artwork from the Artbank collection: Sidney Nolan, Harbour Bridge, c.1979, crayon on paper.

Short explanation of your artwork selection:
Harbour Bridge by Sidney Nolan is one of my most favourite works in the Artbank collection. It is physically small and often small works get lost in large collections. However, the raw simplicity, fresh naivete and deftly applied gestures of colour make this exquisite crayon on paper object utterly mesmerising.