The Lane Cove Art Society and Lane Cove Council’s 60th Annual Lane Cove Art Award opened on Friday, 21 September 2025. The exhibition is showing at Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios until 4 October 2025.
First awarded in 1965, the annual Lane Cove Art Award, an acquisitive prize of local and national significance it attracts entries from artists in all stages of their career.
Established by artists Lloyd Rees, Guy Warren, William Pidgeon, and Reinis Zusters, the Lane Cove Art Award is one of Sydney’s longest-running art prizes.
The award is presented by the Lane Cove Art Society, supported allery Lane Cove + Creative Studios.
It was a packed crowd (even spilling down the steps of Galley Lane Cove) that waited with anticipation for the prize announcements. The judges were prominent Lane Cove artists Rhonda Pryor and Gary Gregg.
Drop by the exhibition to view local art. This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy and buy art created by local artists in a wide variety of styles and media.
This year the award received 342 entries from all over Australia, including regional NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, and the ACT. The judges selected 56 for exhibition in the finalists’ exhibition. You can view those 65 artworks for free.
About the Judges
Rhonda Pryor is a contemporary artist working across photography, textiles and painting. Her evocative, often deeply personal works draw on memory, place and the senses to explore what it means to be human.
A Sydney-based artist with a Master of Fine Arts from Sydney College of the Arts, Rhonda has exhibited widely in solo and group shows and been a finalist in numerous awards across Australia – including The Alice Prize and, notably, the Lane Cove Art Award.
In 2014, she won the City of Ryde’s International Women’s Day Art Prize, and her career has been enriched by grants and residencies, including an Australia Council residency in Japan.
Gary Gregg is an abstract artist working across various media, including painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, and assemblage. His practice explores the relationship between mark-making and space – seeing space not as “negative” but as a form of positive energy in constant dialogue with the marks themselves.
From 1998 to 2017, Gary worked as artist in residence in the late Lloyd Rees’ studio in Northwood, at the invitation of Rees’ son and daughter-in-law, Alan and Jan Rees. This unique connection to one of Australia’s most celebrated artists brings a special significance to Gary’s role as judge for the Lane Cove Art Award.
Over his career, Gary has held 12 solo and ‘two-hander’ exhibitions, been featured in 20 group shows, and been a finalist in major prizes, including the Wynne Prize, Kedumba Drawing Prize, and Harbour Sculpture Prize. His works are held in public, corporate and private collections in Australia and internationally.
Lane Cove Art Prize: (Winner acquisitive) $15,000 sponsored by Lane Cove Council
Theresa Shanley – One More Cup
Theresa is a Melbourne-based artist. Judge Rhonda Pryor told ITC that this painting stood out due to its attention to detail, use of colour and its nod to nostalgia.
Judges Comments:
Skilfully rendered, the painting’s simplicity and directness hints at a narrative that is not apparent to the viewer. Thus, having been drawn in, one is left with a lingering sense of curiosity about the painting which by no means diminishes the enjoyment of viewing.
Hyecorp Property Prize: $2,000 sponsor Hyecorp Property Group
Simone Piccioni – The Dancer
Simone is an artist in residence at Gallery Lane Cove’s Greenwich Studio. This year he submitted a self-portrait for the Archibald Prize.
Simon is originally from Rome, Italy, and is a multidisciplinary artist whose career spans painting, acting, photography, and filmmaking. Known for his evocative figurative works, his paintings have been exhibited worldwide and are part of prestigious private and public collections.
Simone has said about his recent paintings, including the Dancer, that they have drawn him into the boundless world of interiors and still life.
By painting objects such as chessboards and classical sculptures, it is a portal to bygone eras—reminders of a time before limitless technology replaced the tactile joy of physical play.
The Hyecorp Property Prize is only open to Lane Cove Art Society members and/or Lane Cove residents.
Judges comments:
Simone Piccioni’s painting is a compellingly articulated commentary on what must be considered one of the most fundamentally urgent, confronting dilemmas of our time. Nuanced in concept and meticulously painted, this work visually describes the constraints we all feel in the face of injustice, violence and the misuse of power.
Centrehouse Inc. Prize for Commended Work: $1,000 sponsored by Centrehouse Inc.
The judges were so impressed with the standard of the entries that instead of one commended work they awarded five prizes.
Jackie Searson – Kevin was Now Regretting the extra serve of salmon he ate this morning
Jackie is a Lane Cove local and you can find out more about her here.
Yuanshou Zheng – The Studio
Janine Debenham – The Shapes and Sound of the Lake
Jacki Fewtrell Gobert – Lifeboat
Virginia Bucknell – Self Portrait
Lane Cove Art Society
The Lane Cove Art Society aims to encourage, recognise and reward artistic talent in the community. They warmly welcome new members – all you need to have is an interest in art.
The Lane Cove Art Society meets on the 4th TUESDAY of every month (except January and December). The meetings open at 7:00 pm, allowing time for attendees to meet and discuss before the meeting begins.
At each meeting, a demonstration or talk is presented by a well-known artist or guest speaker. Anyone interested in art is welcome to attend – the demonstration commences at approximately 7:30 pm and lasts up to 90 minutes.
Meetings are held at the LANE COVE SPORTING CLUB aka ‘THE DIDDY’. Corner Kenneth Street and River Road, Longueville
The Lane Cove Art Society also holds two exhibitions yearly as well as workshops, visits to galleries or artists’ studios, and mini-exhibitions for members.
Exhibition Contact Details and Hours
Address: 164 Longueville Road NSW (opposite the Library)
Phone: 9428 4898
Website: www.gallerylanecove.com.au
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: @gallerylanecove
Opening Hours: 10:00 am – 4:30 pm Monday – Saturday and 10.00 to 2.30 pm
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