Redcliffe City Art Gallery

THE REDCLIFFE CITY ART COLLECTION Redcliffe permanent art collection exists from an acquisitive art contest that began in 1957 as the Clontarf Beach Contest. A Betty Quelhurst oil painting The Pier, Woody point won the judges? eye and was acquired for ₤ 75. 1960 was the first year the contest was the Redcliffe Art Contest and in 1961 the Redcliffe Art Contest Society was formed to organise, promote and execute the competition. In 1961 the competition included a non-representational prize that was won by the Central Technical College student, Irene Amos for her popular Dogman. 1963 Sir Fred Schonell sponsored the Eleanor Schonell Prize of 40 guineas, as a memorial to his late wife. The criteria for the prize were 'a study of a child or children-dancing or with friends or with pets at school or at play' portrait not acceptable.? By 1975, the Redcliffe Art Contest had five acquisitive sections, Open section Representational (oils or acrylic), Non-representational, Portrait in Oils, Watercolour and the Fred and Ellanor Schonell - depicting activities of children. Since 1997, the annual 15 Artists acquisitive prize has presented smaller but more select examples of artworks that have links to Redcliffe. The opening of the Redcliffe City Art Gallery in 2000 provided a permanent home for the Redcliffe City Collection. The collection has grown to over 350 artworks and continues to play a pivotal role in the future exhibition programs of the Redcliffe City Art Gallery.