Melbourne Prize Trust Explained

The Melbourne Prize Trust is a charitable foundation in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 2004 by Simon H. Warrender for the specific purpose of awarding three arts awards on a rotating three-year basis: the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture, the Melbourne Prize for Literature, and the Melbourne Prize for Music. The first Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture was awarded in 2005.

History

The Melbourne Prize Trust was founded by Simon H. Warrender, son of Simon Warrender,^[1] in 2004. The trust was an arts initiative of the Committee for Melbourne, which had been founded by Warrender Jr.'s mother, Pamela Myer Warrender (daughter of Sir Norman Myer).^{[1] [2]}

Simon Warrender announced the establishment of the prizes after the unveiling of Magic Pudding, a sculpture commissioned by him for the Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. The trust sells miniatures of the sculpture to contribute to the prize money.

The inaugural prize awarded by the trust in 2005 was the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture.

Governance

The Melbourne Prize Trust is governed by a board, headed by chair Janine Kirk with founder Simon H. Warrender in the roles of executive director and secretary.

Prizes

The trust grants awards on a rolling three-year basis for Urban Sculpture, Literature and Music, in that order. The prizes are intended "to provide opportunities for Victorian writers, musicians and sculptors and recognise and reward excellence and talent, inspire creative development and enrich public life".^[3]

Urban Sculpture

Recipients for the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture include:^[4]

• 2005: OSW (Open Spatial Workshop), comprising Terri Bird, Bianca Hester, and Scott Mitchell, with then collaborator Natasha Johns-Messenger, for Groundings.^[5] OSW, founded in 2003, continues as a collaborative group comprising Bird, Hester, and Mitchell, producing works of many kinds: sculpture, installation, curated events, publications, and video production.^[6] Bird is an artist, writer and academic at the Department of Fine Art at Monash University;^[7] Hester is at the University of Sydney; and Mitchell is connected to RMIT.^[8]
• 2008: Alexander Knox, for Maxims of Behaviour^[9]
• 2011: Bianca Hester, for A World, Fully Accessible by No Living Being, in Federation Square^[10]
• 2014: Geoff Robinson, for 15 locations / 15 minutes / 15 days^[11]
• 2017: Daniel von Sturmer, for Electric Light (Facts/Figures/Federation Square)^[12]
• 2020: Beth Arnold, Mikala Dwyer, Emily Floyd, Nicholas Mangan, Kathy Temin, and Field Theory; in an unprecedented move, the six finalists decided to share the prize, pool their winnings, and split the pool seven ways, giving a seventh of the winnings to an Indigenous Australian community organisation, to highlight "the absence of First Nations voices and culturally diverse representation in the 2020 Prize"^{[13] [14]}
• 2023: Maree Clarke, "for her recent experimental work in glass as well as the pivotal role she has played in the Victorian Indigenous art scene over the past three decades"^[15]

Literature

Apart from the Melbourne Prize for Literature, which is given for a writer's body of work "which has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life", other literary prizes are also awarded as part of this event. The Civic Choice Award has been retained from the beginning, but other prize names have varied over the years, including: Best Writing Award (later including a residency); and Readings Residency Award. The $20,000 Writers Prize was introduced in 2015 as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Melbourne Prize, sponsored by the Copyright Agency. It is open to published authors for an essay of 10,000–20,000 words. Five finalists receive $2,000 each.^[16]

In 2021, apart from the main prize, there was the Civic Choice Award, the Writer's Prize, and the Professional Development Award (created 2021).^{[17] [18]}, the Civic Choice Award is given to the finalist who in both the Melbourne Prize for Literature and Writer's Prize received the highest number of votes from the public.^[18]

Recipients of the Melbourne Prize for Literature:

• 2006: Helen Garner^[19]
• 2009: Gerald Murnane^[20]
• 2012: Alex Miller
• 2015: Chris Wallace-Crabbe^[21]
• 2018: Alison Lester^[22]
• 2021: Christos Tsiolkas^[23]

Recipients of the Civic Choice Award:

• 2006: Henry von Doussa for The Park Bench
• 2009: Amra Pajalic for The Good Daughter
• 2012: Tony Birch for Blood
• 2015: Robyn Annear for Places Without Poetry
• 2018: Louise Milligan for Cardinal
• 2021: Maxine Beneba Clarke

Recipients of the Best Writing Award (worth $30,000):

• 2006: Christos Tsiolkas for Dead Europe
• 2009: Nam Le for The Boat
• 2012: Craig Sherborne for The Amateur Science of Love
• 2015: Andrea Goldsmith for The Memory Trap
• 2018: Maria Tumarkin for Axiomatic
• 2021: N/A

Recipients of the Writers Prize and Residency:

• 2015: Kate Ryan^{[21] [17]} for Psychotherapy for Normal People
• 2018: N/A
• 2021: N/A

Recipients of the Readings Residency Award:

• 2018: Jamie Marina Lau
• 2021: N/A

Recipients of the Writer's Prize:

• 2021: Eloise Grills, for her essay "The Fat Bitch in Art"^{[18] [17]}

Recipients of the Professional Development Award:

• 2021: Evelyn Araluen^{[18] [17]}

Music

The Melbourne Prize for Music is worth $60,000. The trust also awards the $20,000 Beleura Emerging Composers Award, and the $10,000 Professional Development Award.^[24] Recipients for the Melbourne Prize for Music include:^[25]

• • 2007: Paul Grabowsky 2010: David Jones^{[26] [27] [28]}
• 2013: Brett Dean
• 2016: Kutcha Edwards
  • 2019: Deborah Cheetham 2022: Missy Higgins^[24]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Carbone . Suzanne . The whole truth on lie-detector expert . . 16 May 2011 . 15 January 2024.
2. Encyclopedia: Suzannah Pearce. Who's Who in Australia Live!. WARRENDER Pamela Myer. 2006-11-17. Crown Content. North Melbourne, Vic.
3. Web site: About . Melbourne Prize Trust . 15 January 2024.
4. Web site: Melbourne Prize Trust » Urban Sculpture . Melbourne Prize Trust . 15 January 2024.
5. Web site: Melbourne Prize Trust » Urban Sculpture . Melbourne Prize Trust . 15 January 2024.
6. Web site: Bio . Open Spatial Workshop . 14 August 2020 . 15 January 2024.
7. Web site: Associate Professor Terri Bird . Art, Design and Architecture . 15 June 2023 . 15 January 2024.
8. Web site: Anthropocite. RMIT Research Repository . 15 January 2024.
9. Web site: Alexander Knox . UAP . 15 January 2024.
10. Web site: Bianca Hester . Bianca Hester . 15 January 2024.
11. Web site: Hunn . Patrick . Entries open for $60,000 urban sculpture prize . . 28 March 2017 . 15 January 2024.
12. Web site: Daniel von Sturmer wins Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2017 . Australian Arts Review . 17 November 2017 . 15 January 2024.
13. News: 2020-11-11. Finalists come together to share $60,000 Melbourne Prize for Sculpture 2020. 2021-04-05.
14. Web site: Victorian College of the Arts graduates share in the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2020 . Faculty of Fine Arts and Music . 13 November 2020 . 15 January 2024.
15. Web site: Burke . Kelly . Maree Clarke wins $60,000 Melbourne urban sculpture prize for detailed glass renderings of nature . . 15 November 2023 . 15 January 2024.
16. Web site: Finalists announced for the Melbourne Prize for Literature and Awards 2015 . Readings Books . 1 September 2015 . 11 November 2023.
17. Web site: Literature . Melbourne Prize Trust . 11 November 2023.
18. Web site: The 2021 winners of the Melbourne Prize for Literature & Awards . Readings Books . 10 November 2021 . 11 November 2023.
19. Web site: Austlit — Melbourne Prize . Austlit. 9 November 2023.
20. Web site: A very Melbourne man collects literary prize in "The Age" . . 2009-11-12 . 2013-10-23.
21. Web site: Poet Chris Wallace-Crabbe wins the Melbourne Prize for Literature . . 2015-11-11 . 11 November 2023. Jason . Steger. registration.
22. Web site: Alison Lester wins the $60,000 Melbourne Prize for Literature. Steger. Jason. 2018-11-14. Sydney Morning Herald. en. 2018-11-14.
23. Web site: Burke. Kelly. 2021-11-10. Christos Tsiolkas wins $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature. 2021-11-12. The Guardian. en.
24. Web site: Melbourne Prize for Music 2022 . Melbourne Prize . 23 May 2022 . 11 November 2023.
25. Web site: Melbourne Prize for Music . . 11 November 2023.
26. Web site: David Jones . Drumtek Store . 11 November 2023 . 11 November 2023.
27. Web site: Drummer taps into rhythm of tranquillity . . 8 May 2011 . 11 November 2023.
28. Web site: Wright . Simon . David Jones . Move Records . 11 November 2023.