THE WINNER of the most recent City of Stirling art award says he is glad to see the reinstatement of a major metropolitan-wide competition.
Stirling councillors last week endorsed a biennial large-sized art award, which will have $7500 worth of prize money and run in opposite years to the Stirling Snaps Photographic Award.
Kalamunda resident George Hayward, who won the last community art award in 2007, said the triumph had given him a lot of confidence to progress with his career.
“It gave me a lot of incentive to keep going, because it was nice to know that people appreciated what I was doing,” he said.
“You can start to question your abilities and motives and the time that you are putting into your work, so it’s very important to have positive feedback.”
George’s win, which was awarded for his oil painting on canvas entitled High and Dry, gave him the impetus to open a studio and run art workshops in Kalamunda.
He said the competition would help open the door for emerging and hobby artists.