SYDNEY.- Casula Powerhouse Art Centre, Liverpool City Council and The Blake Society are delighted to announce that the future of the prestigious Blake Prize has been secured. Thanks to the support of Liverpool City Council, Casula Powerhouse will take over management of the esteemed Blake Art Prize and Blake Poetry Prize effective immediately. The announcement signals an exciting new chapter for the Blake Prize and a new home in the heart of western Sydney.

The Blake Prize is one of Australia’s longest standing and most prestigious art prizes, exploring themes around spirituality and religion through art. Its future looked in doubt last year when The Blake Society announced it could not find a permanent home for the prize. Casula Powerhouse Art Centre (CPAC) was concerned by the loss of such a critical prize to Australia’s cultural landscape. Today, CPAC joins The Blake Society and Liverpool City Council to announce it will take over the management of the prize and present the exhibition on a bi-annual basis. The gallery also today declared the 64th Blake Prize is now open for entries. Artists have until 2 October to submit works. The finalists will be presented at the exhibition launch on the 12 February 2016 at CPAC.

The group is also pleased to today announce that the first Blake Prizes at CPAC will see an increase in prize money for the two key awards. The winner of the 64th Blake Prize will receive $35,000 (an increase of $10,000 from the previous $25,000), and The Emerging Artist Award should which is an acquisitive prize is now $6,000 (an increase of $1000). In addition, CPAC will offer the inaugural Blake Residency program for the first time: a one month residency at CPAC and a solo exhibition in The Marsden Gallery which will be unveiled at the 2018 Blake exhibition program.

The Blake Prize is designed to reflect the religious diversity of Australia. It is widely respected for attracting artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and educational backgrounds. Finalists range from leading contemporary practitioners to emerging and self-taught artists. The Blake has a fascinating history and is well known for attracting a consistently high calibre of entrants.

Rev Dr Rod Pattenden, Chairperson for The Blake Society, is delighted by the announcement: ‘I am personally pleased to see the Blake continue in this exciting next chapter. Casula Powerhouse is the right fit to embrace the future of a prize which is committed to contemporary art practice, as well as cultural diversity and human justice. The Society is comfortable it is in great hands we have every confidence that Casula is the right place for the Blake to continue,’ he said.

‘The Blake Prize is designed to spark conversations around one of the most contentious issues of our time: spirituality and religion. It has inspired complex debates about faith, its history, personal meaning, and community. As well as more challenging pieces, the prize also attracts works that are inspiring, gentle and very personal. It is my hope that in its new incarnation the Blake will continue to challenge contemporary artists to provide thoughtful, considered responses to the state of the world today and the big questions that plague us all,’ said Pattenden.

CPAC Director Kiersten Fishburn adds: ‘More than sixty years since it was founded, the Blake is still one of the most respected, diverse and open ended art prizes in Australia today. As religion remains a powerful subject of our time and one especially important in Western Sydney, it makes sense for The Blake to move to Casula. In Liverpool, we have residents from over 150 different birthplaces, 140 languages spoken and an equally diverse range of religious backgrounds. We hope to further strengthen the Blake’s role in building a platform for informed, diverse and balanced exploration of religion through the eyes of artists based in Western Sydney and across Australia.

Fishburn adds their support of The Blake Prize is another key milestone in the gallery’s growth in recent years. ‘CPAC has achieved enormous success in the past five years and this is another step in its expansion. Liverpool is a remarkably young city and there is an enormous opportunity to engage our local audiences in contemporary art. In Liverpool 38% of the population is less than 25 years of age. The city is growing at a rate of 2.3% which is almost twice the NSW average. It is estimated that Liverpool’s population will grow from 200,000 to over 326,000 by 2036. I firmly envisage that CPAC will grow alongside the city, and become an increasingly important building block in the expansion of Liverpool’s cultural landscape. The Blake is one of the many key milestones being implemented to ensure the gallery continues to grow and remain relevant for contemporary audiences,’ she said.

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun said Liverpool was proud to host the Blake Prize and offer it a new permanent home at CPAC. ‘Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) is embedding its reputation as a leading arts institution through the new Paramor Prize which launched in January, and now the internationally renowned Blake Prize. We are delighted to welcome the Blake Prize to the capital of the Great South West which is home to CPAC and one of the country’s most multicultural communities. What better place to discuss the themes of spirituality and religion? Liverpool is looking forward to the conversation this prize generates.’

The art prize will this year be judged by Artist Leanne Tobin and Professor Amanda Lawson. Tobin is an artist and descendent of the Boorooberongal and Wumali clan of the Darug; two of the many clans of the traditional Aboriginal people of Greater Western Sydney. She won the 2012 NSW Parliament Aboriginal Art Prize with her moving symbolic work, Defending Country. Professor Lawson is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts at University of Wollongong. Lawson graduated BA (Hons) from the University of Wollongong and has a PhD from the University of Sydney. A third judge will be announced in the months ahead. CPAC will also continue to tour the Blake Prize across Australia following its opening exhibition at Casula and tour dates will be confirmed in the months ahead.