The Clarence Valley Indigenous Art Award opens at the Grafton Regional Gallery on Saturday September 16 offering local First Nation’s artists the chance to share in more than $6000 in prizes.

This is the ninth year of the Clarence Valley Indigenous Art Award CVIAA, which showcases the work of First Nations artists who live on Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr or Yaegl country in the Clarence Valley council region, and aims to promote contemporary Indigenous art of the Clarence Valley and develop the collection of local First Nations art held by the Grafton Regional Gallery.

The 2023 CVIAA exhibition showcases an array of mediums, styles, and methods, including weaving, painting, and sculpture, using both contemporary and traditional techniques, which speaks to the ongoing importance of artists practice for First Nations people in the Clarence Valley.

The winner of the award will be announced at the opening and receive a $5000 first prize, plus an emerging artist will be awarded $1000 and the best judged young person’s work will get a Youth prize pack valued at $250.

The CVIAA will be co-judged by Arts Northern Rivers Indigenous Arts officer and Bundjalung artist Kylie Caldwell and Githabal man and artist Luke Close who has been working in the arts for 30 years.

In 2016 Kylie was awarded an Encounters Fellowship from the National Museum of Australia and travelled to the UK and across Australia to research Bundjalung collections in museums, which led her to pivot to a career in the arts after 14 years working in education.

Luke has recently been commissioned to produce a number of urban art works including a mural commissioned by Lismore City Council as part of the redevelopment of Lismore Regional Gallery and The Quad.

The 2023 CVIAA will officially open with a celebration alongside Relative Terrains and School of the Living and the Dead on Saturday September 16, from 3pm, and the exhibition runs until November 12.