17 March,2010 Announcement of the Packing Room Prize

The days fly by and it’s the 17 March. Media pack out the space; some journalists are easily recognisable to me as Angela Bishop, Network Ten’s Entertainment Reporter Daily Telegraph’s Elizabeth Fortescue and Sydney Morning Herald’s John McDonald.

I spot COFA’s Joanna Mendelssohn, she is reluctant to have her photo taken, but when Joanna hears it’s for the internship blog, she smiles and complies.

The atmosphere in the room is full of happy anticipation; those present admire and discuss the works of the selected finalists. Anne Fulwood, one of the Trustees at the Art Gallery of New South Wales announces the winner.

Nafisa, the Packing Room Prize winner gets cornered as journalists take a photo of her near her work, with her subject Glenn. A. Baker by her side. She is poised, if slightly terrified, while doing her best to look calm, maybe it’s just my imagination. After all, this moment is a massive highlight in her career.

Maybe Nafisa will enjoy remembering today’s events tomorrow. At the moment she is cornered with Glenn. A. Baker by the media, as close as physically possible near his portrait and what they say is getting recorded or madly jotted down. Meanwhile Nafisa’s subject is all smiles, he’s done this before and is used to being in the limelight and the media.

Children’s Medical Research Institute website (www.cmri.org.au/Nafisa-Archibald/default.aspx)described how the artist and subject met. “Three-time holder of the BBC Rock Brain of the Universe title, Glenn. A. Baker is renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of rock music. He has written books and magazine articles on the subject. He is also a widely read, award-winning travel writer. The subject and artist met a number of years ago through the work both do for Jeans for Genes, the fundraising arm of the Children’s Medical Research institute. Each year they secure celebrity jeans, which are then painted by selected artists and auctioned at a charity function.”

“We share a mutual love for travel and adventure, and I was intrigued by his boundless energy, enthusiasm and knowledge about all things to do with rock music,” Nafisa was quoted in the website article.

“The sheer size of the work makes you view it from a distance…yet the detail invites you to take a closer look, which reveals creative scrapings done with a razor blade,” the website article described.

“The black and white portrait is physically large and imposing, because the subject is a larger than life character.” The portrait was started before Glenn. A. Baker had open heart surgery and completed after. The artist commented that she was particularly interested in, “capturing Glenn’s strengths, his sense of humour and the twinkle in his eyes,” Nafisa was quoted in the website article.

The winner of the Packing Room prize receives $1000. The Packing Room prize was selected for the past 19 years by Steve Peters, the gallery’s head store man. The portrait was chosen by Steve Peters because, “it looks like Glenn. A. Baker and it looks good.”

A total of 2873 paintings were entered from all three prizes this year-up from 2692 last year. (The Diary, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 March, 2010)

There were 849 entries for the Archibald, 798 entries for the Wynne Prize and 615 entries for the Sulman Prize. The Archibald and Wynne prizes are judged by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The judge for the Sulman Prize was artist Imants Tillers.

The Archibald winner receives $50 000, the Wynne Prize winner receives $25 000 for landscape painting or figure sculpture, the Sulman Prize winner receives $20 000 for subject/genre painting and /or mural work and Watercolour Prize (part of the Wynne Prize) winner receives $2000. (Media Release, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 17 March, 2010)

The suburban papers are eager to run an article about an Archibald finalist from their area.
After the announcement of the Packing Room prize, back in the Media Relations office, I email out a press release announcing the news and images of finalists’ works relevant to particular suburban or interstate newspapers, depending on where the finalists are from.

This year there are five finalists from Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, so the Wentworth Courier is interested in running a feature about them, with an interview of the finalists.

There are also finalists from Melbourne, South Australia, so it’s important to contact the relevant media in the area where the artists come from.

Before the announcement, my tasks included researching the contact details of the suburban papers in Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and other states, to have these readily available once the announcement of finalists was made, to make sure the relevant suburban papers receive the news as soon as possible.

The Archibald exhibition gets seen by a wider audience in Australia than other exhibitions. After showing in Sydney, it will tour regionally.
The exhibition’s touring schedule for 2010 is:
Goulburn Regional Art Gallery 5 June -11 July
Wagga Wagga Art Gallery 22 July-22 August
Tamworth Regional Gallery 30 August -24 September
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery 4 October-27 October
Muswellbrook Regional Art Gallery 4 November – 5 December
Shoalhaven City Arts Centre 14 December-18 January 2011
Albury Art Gallery & Library Museum -27 January -3 March 2011

The next week is spent in anticipation of the announcement of this year’s Archibald Prize winner. During this time being present at the Artist’s Lunch is a highlight for me. Artists who are finalists in this year’s Archibald exhibition are gathered over drinks at the Art Gallery of New South Wales only a few days before the announcement of the Archibald winner, to give the finalists an opportunity to get to know one another.