small works art prize 2026
Get ready for the Small Works Art Prize 2026, one of Australia’s longest-running and most beloved open-entry art awards. Celebrating creativity on an intimate scale, the prize welcomes both emerging and established artists from across Australia and beyond, showcasing hundreds of original works, each no larger than 35x35x35cm.
Every entry is exhibited, and all mediums are accepted, including painting, photography, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, weaving, mixed media and more. The prize is celebrated for its inclusivity, energy, and community spirit, offering artists a unique platform to connect with collectors and curators, share their work with thousands of visitors, and be part of an immersive exhibition that proves small art can have a truly big impact.
Small works art prize exhibition
4–17 january 2026
CELEBRATION EVENT
FRIDAY 9 January, 6–9PM (All Welcome)
PRIZES
Over $14,000 in prizes to be awarded, including:
Small Works Art Prize 2025, exhibition view
Small Works Art Prize 2025, exhibition view
ENTRIES HAVE NOW CLOSED
meet our guest judge
MYLES RUSSEL-COOK
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CEO OF THE AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART (ACCA)
Myles Russel-Cook is the Artistic Director and CEO of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA). Myles has a long-standing interest in cultural, gender and sexual diversity within both Australian and International contemporary practice, and has worked across a broad range of exhibitions and projects. For over eight years, Myles was one of a team of curators who oversaw major contemporary art exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, including NGV Triennial, and Melbourne Now.
Myles has curated a number of significant exhibitions and programs at NGV including Colony: Frontier Wars (2017), From Bark to Neon (2019), DESTINY (2020), Maree Clarke: Ancestral Memories (2021), Found and Gathered: Rosalie Gascoigne I Lorraine Connelly Northey (2021), Bark Ladies: Eleven artists from Yirrkala (2021), Queer: Stories from the NGV Collection (2022), Wurrdha Marra (2023), and REKOSPECTIVE: The Art of Reko Rennie (2024). Internationally, Myles has curated several exhibitions, including a series of shows in collaboration with the Australian Embassy in Paris.
Myles is curator of the touring show, The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art, presented in partnership with the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. This is the largest exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ever presented internationally.
Small Works Art Prize 2025
Small Works Art prize 2026 proudly supported by
