Emerge Youth Art Awards 2026

The City of Nedlands is happy to announce that the Emerge Youth Art Awards is returning to Tresillian Arts Centre in 2026. Now in its 14^th year, the award provides outstanding opportunities for exposure and celebration to young artists and is open to any West Australian artist between the ages of 12 – 25 years old.

This is the biggest event in the City's youth program, attracting emerging young artists from across the state to showcase and celebrate their talent for a public audience. Enter the awards as an artist for an opportunity to have your work recognised by our judges with one of several cash prizes.

For our local community, the exhibition is an opportunity to immerse yourself in creativity while supporting young and early career artists. The exhibition will be free to view at the City's much-loved Tresillian Arts Centre and visitors will be given the opportunity to vote for their favourite piece in the People's Choice Award.

Sponsors

Thank you to our Emerge Youth Art Awards category sponsors for their generous support, helping to nurture and celebrate the next generation of creative talent:

City of Nedlands

Jacksons Drawing Supplies

Oxlades Art Supplies

Art & Craft World 

Important info for Emerge entrants

Judges 2026 

Robert Gear 

Robert Gear was born in Nelson, New Zealand, on April 9, 1957. He was educated at Scotch College and Guildford Grammar School. In 1978 he completed a teaching diploma and in 1981 a Bachelor of Fine Art from Curtin University. In 1983, Robert accepted a teaching position with the Education Department, where he worked both full-time and part-time until his retirement in 2021.

Gear's work as an artist is embedded in the belief that painting offers a means of making sense of the world. His oil paintings explore landscapes, transforming the everyday into spaces of unsettling beauty and existential significance. He seeks to portray landscapes not only as physical spaces but also as vessels of memory, meaning, and emotion, where history and humanity intersect.

Through his landscapes, Gear reflects on personal and collective histories, addressing the challenges of global and social crises. His paintings create dreamlike worlds, inviting viewers to consider their role in shaping the future and our deep connection to the mysteries of life and history.

Gear exhibited at Art Collective WA in 2020 and 2024 and has participated in numerous group exhibitions and national art prizes. His work is represented in both private and institutional collections.

Jana Vodesil-Baruffi

I was born in the Czech Republic during the communist era, and from a young age, I developed a passion for art. After completing five years of study in Interior Design, I made a life-changing decision in 1981 to escape to the West.

Art has always been an integral part of who I am. Through art, I have found a way to express my emotions, thoughts, and values in a language deeper than words.

My artistic journey is centred around two primary themes: portraiture and landscapes. Each of these areas serves a distinct purpose in my work. Portraits allow me to explore and capture the essence of individuals. Landscapes serve as a visual diary, reflecting the beauty and diversity of the world around me.

Oil paint is my medium of choice.

Over the years, I have held more than 20 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows and competitions.

One of my most notable projects was Permanent Impressions, a series of 50 portraits featuring prominent Western Australian women. Other accomplishments include winning the Lester Prize in 2017, the People’s Choice Award, and being a finalist seven times. I have also been a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, as well as in prestigious awards like the Melville Art Award, Canning Art Award, Shirley Hannan Award, and the American Art Award.

Charlotte Robinson

Charlotte Robinson is a Boorloo (Perth)–based expressionist painter and a founding member of Holmes Studio, an artist collective in Forrestfield. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in 2022 and currently works across the not-for-profit and arts sectors in Perth.

Through her painting practice, Charlotte explores how expressive imagery and colour can evoke emotional responses within portraiture. Her portraits are interpretive and often vividly coloured, combining figurative illustration with elements of realism. Alongside portraiture, her practice extends to figurative works that depict everyday settings and lived experiences.

Charlotte was awarded the Louise Macphie Painter’s Award at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in 2020, received the City of Belmont Emerging Artist Award in 2023 and was a Finalist for the Jury Art Prize in 2025. Her work has been exhibited at ECU, the Courthouse Gallery, Nyisztor Studio, Ellenbrook Arts, and Lost Eden Creative.

Emerge Exhibition Events 

Drawing Workshop with Andy Quilty  

Date: 2nd August 2026 

Time: 

Session 1: 1pm – 2:20pm (12-17 years)  

Session 2: 2:40 – 4:00pm (18 – 25 years) 

Tickets: $10 each – Online bookings essential 

Join artist Andy Quilty to learn practical drawing skills, build confidence and learn the value of taking risks, to produce tangible outcomes focused on a capable and fearless approach towards creative discovery. This workshop presents drawing as an efficient, economical, and powerful tool for developing ideas and experimenting with process.  

Andy Quilty is an artist, independent arts worker and Lecturer in Fine Arts at the University of Western Australia. He works across the state facilitating creative development workshops in Aboriginal art centres, schools, community organisations, not-for-profits and prisons. Quilty’s practice identifies a creative visual language located in outer suburbia incorporating material and psychological expressions, markings and gestures, positioned as inventive expressions of outer suburban experience. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Art) from Curtin University and a Master of Fine Arts (Research) from the University of Western Australia. 

All materials provided. Please wear clothes you don’t mind getting messy.  

Curatorial Talk with Judy Rogers  

• Date: 9th August 2026 

• Time: 2-3pm 
• Tickets: FREE - Bookings preferred, walk-ins welcome)

Join us for a presentation hosted by acclaimed artist, Judy Rogers in her 12th year as curator of Emerge to hear her insights into this year’s exhibition cohort and advice for young people entering art prizes! Attendees will also have the opportunity to seek direct feedback for their artwork entered into the awards.  

 Judy Rogers is an independent curator and visual artist. Hungarian-born and science-trained, Rogers arrived in Perth in 1995. She has a depth of experience in directing and curating projects in cultural institutions. She is a strong advocate for community art and visual arts in Western Australia. 

She curated and managed over forty exhibitions during her appointment in the Blend(er) Gallery Joondalup between 2006-2011. She curated her ‘Out of the Suitcase’ travelling exhibition showing from 2016 to 2018 in three regional galleries in Western Australia and abroad in St Petersburg and Budapest. Her next travelling exhibition ‘Romancing Botany’ showed from 2018 to 2019 in five regional galleries in Western Australia. 

Her independent curatorial projects include the Planners Art Exhibition at Brookfield Place Perth 2018, and Floribunda24 at LostEden Gallery Dwellingup, 2024. She has curated the City of Nedlands’ Emerge Youth Art Awards for the past 10 years. 

As a visual artist, Rogers’ work ranges from intricate paintings and public sculpture. Recognised internationally, this year she takes part in the International Arts Exchange Exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Japan. She exhibited at the 18th Asian Arts Biennale in 2018 and the G20 Art Agenda Exhibition in China 2016. 

She has had twenty-four solo shows in Australia and solo exhibitions in Budapest and St Petersburg. 

Her recently commissioned botanical artwork is on display at the City of Melville. She won the Cossack Art Award North West Flora and Fauna Prize in 2023, sponsored by Rio Tinto.

Rogers is a highly sought after art teacher. She teaches art in Tresillian Arts Centre. She was a lecturer at the Applecross Senior Hight School Gifted and Talented Program from 2012 to 2015 and Central Metropolitan College of TAFE Perth from 1997 to 1999. 

She is frequently entrusted with the challenging responsibility of serving as a judge for various prestigious events, including the Collie Art Prize 2025, the City of Wanneroo Northern Perspectives 2019, the City of South Perth Emerging Artist Award 2017, the Vasse Art Award 2010, and the St George’s Art Awards 2008. 

CLICK HERE TO BOOK

Need more info?

Please contact Tessa Dorotich, Community Development Officer Arts & Culture via email: tresillian.exhibitions@nedlands.wa.gov.au

Emerge Youth Art Awards 2025 prize winners

Check out past entries for some inspiration!