Sydney Catholic Schools has celebrated its second year of the Portrait Prize competition with a total of 294 exceptional entries and the announcement of four category winners.

The annual competition allows students from Kindergarten to Year 12 the opportunity of painting or drawing a portrait of someone well-known to them and who plays a the significant role in their life.

“It was a privilege for me to oversee the Portrait Prize this year,” said Education Officer – Creative and Performing Arts, Anne-Maree Wells. 

“I was amazed at all the entries’ breadth of talent and it was truly a hard job judging the creativity,” she said. 

Across four categories, the winning artworks were awarded to

• 5-8 years – Sonia Zang – St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School Mortlake
• 9-12 years – Leanne Trhinh – St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove
• 13-15 years – Nate Sinkovic – Marcellin College Randwick
• 15-18 years – Steven Purwadi – Corpus Christi College Maroubra.

Dr Kate O’Brien, Director of Education and Research at Sydney Catholic Schools, said there was an extraordinary level of artistic talent among the 294 entries, an increase of 85 on the number of entries from last year.

“We were incredibly excited to see the artworks our students produced and we certainly were not disappointed,” Dr O’Brien said.

“Congratulations to our four winners on a fantastic achievement – who will now represent Sydney Catholic Schools in the Young Archie competition, run by the Art Gallery of NSW.”  

“The Portrait Prize is aligned with curriculum outcomes for the Visual Arts, and learning modules delivered in hybrid remote/face-to-face models supported student learning and the development of art making practice,” Dr …