Awards

September 2025

 

 

 

We are excited to announce the Winners of
BigCi Environmental Awards 2025

BigCi Environmental Awards, now in their 11th year, focus on providing a platform for artists passionate about environmental concerns of the day. Relevance to our location on the edge of the Wollemi National Park in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains was essential.

We received a huge number of submissions from Australian and International artists from wide variety disciplines working in different mediums.

We would like to say big thank you to all the artists who felt enthusiastic about our residency program and put time, effort and creativity into their applications. We wish we could award you all!

Also thank you to our independent panel of judges, Louise Beer and John Hooper (UK); Allan Giddy (Sydney); and Yandell Walton (Melbourne).

Two Winners of the Awards will each receive (4) free weeks at the BigCi residency and $5,000 prize money.

And the Winners of BigCi Environmental Awards 2025 are:

Jana Irmert (Germany)
Mollie McKinley (USA)

Here is what the judges said about the Award Winners:

Yandell Walton

General Reflection
Both applications demonstrated strong, innovative practices that engage with the environment in distinct yet complementary ways. Each artist offers a unique perspective, and I am excited to see what emerges from their time at BigCi.

Jana Irmert
Jana’s proposal stood out for its sophisticated and imaginative approach to creating immersive soundscapes. Her practice demonstrates a deeply creative use of recording technologies, drawing directly from environmental sources to craft complex auditory environments. The way she layers and experiments with sound reveals a highly innovative methodology that promises to create a profound sense of place and resonance within the residency context. I am excited to see how her work will expand in dialogue with the unique landscapes of BigCi.

Mollie McKinley
Mollie’s proposal was compelling in the way it drew from the landscape, pushing the boundaries of photography as both medium and conceptual form. Her approach reveals a willingness to take risks and expand the language of image-making, reconfiguring photography as an experimental and environmentally responsive practice. This innovation positions her work as a strong fit for the residency, and I look forward to seeing how she develops her ideas in response to the BigCi environment.

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Allan Giddy

General Reflection
Understanding our world relies on a continual search at the perimeters of our apprehension. Both these artists seek such raw material, and importantly, both artists clearly conveyed that they are seeking to challenge their own practice, inspired by time spent in this amazing place. Win-win!

Jana Irmert
This application was supported by a powerful body of arresting sound work –work which gave “voice” to sites through the conduit of contemporary technology, while not letting the tech get in the way of artistic expression.
Past work was powerfully executed and site responsive, while retaining poetry, intrigue and … dare I say it … a touch of the sublime. It’s a tough line to tread.
I can see Jana has the rigour, intent and, most importantly, flexibility to improvise and react to new material. She clearly goes out of the way to challenge herself and her practice.
I am very pleased that, through this residency, she will have the opportunity to challenge herself in Australia – and I can’t wait to hear the results!

Mollie McKinley
Mollie’s application, like that of Jana, sought to “show” us the (usually) unseen.
Both artists’ works seem to enlighten us without recourse to rhetoric as they strive to unfold the complex layers of meaning that exist beneath our feet and at the edge of our hearing.
Mollie’s description of obtaining images in hostile, dank environments spoke of her determination and resolve to bring something from this uncomfortable edge to all of us.
Her past work, like Jana’s, are neither trophies nor trite collections; they serve to open our senses while gently reminding us of our long-term predicament.

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Louise Beer and John Hooper

General Reflection
There were so many brilliant entries, it was very difficult to choose two. We feel that so many of the entrants could have made important work at BigCi, and we hope they apply in the future. The most important aspect for us was looking at what impact the artists would have on BigCi’s audiences, and their own audiences – and how they can emotionally move people in a way that inspires positive environmental change, or a shift in how people think about the world, and all the life it contains.

Jana Irmert
We were really taken with her sound pieces and loved the idea of using geophone mics around BigCi. We were inspired by Jana’s desire to address the urgency of the climate crisis, and by her commitment to present a new approach for local people to perceive their environment, which may highlight changes they may not yet have recognised. We are really excited to see what Jana creates.

Mollie McKinley
After looking at Mollie’s work, we thought she would create something wonderful at BigCi. We think playing with scale, whether through sound or photography, can create a strong emotional connection to the other forms of life we share the Earth with. The level of research into the Blue Mountains and, in particular, how she will interact with the geography of the area around BigCi, made us very excited to see what she will produce during her residency.

July 2025

Call for Submissions
BigCi Environmental Awards 2025

We are excited to announce that we are once again inviting artists to apply for BigCi Environmental Awards!

Australian and International artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2025.

Two Winners of the Awards will each receive (4) free weeks at the BigCi residency and $5,000 prize money.

The winning artists will have an opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wollemi, Blue Mountains and Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.

The Awards will be judged by an independent panel of judges:

UK-based Louise Beer and John Hooper, winners of BigCi Environmental Awards 2020, work together as “Pale Blue Dot Collective”. From a deep time perspective, the artists create a space for discussion around the climate disaster, the damage we are collectively participating in and its universal impact. They use installation, film, photography and sound in their collaborative and independent practices to examine our place within the universe.

Allan Giddy is a Sydney-based artist, lecturer, and the Founding Director of ERIA (Environmental Research Initiative for Art), COFA (now UNSW A&D). Involving significant interdisciplinary collaboration, his work and research sits at the intersection of sustainable energy systems, electronic interconnectivity and interactivity, and the physical art object.

Yandell Walton, winner of the BigCi Environmental Award 2024, is a multi-award-winning artist based in Narrm/Melbourne whose immersive installations and moving image works explore the intersections of art, technology, and ecology. Her work responds to deep immersion in place through residencies and field trips, engaging with ecologies and more-than-human perspectives. She employs technology to create embodied environments that challenge anthropocentric narratives, focusing on ecological entanglement.

The deadline for submissions is 24 August 2025.
Winners will be announced on 12 September 2025.

There is an entry fee of $40, which must be paid at the time of sending the submission. Entry fees are not refundable.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see

BigCi Environmental Awards 2025-Submission Form

Thank you Hadley Green for their continuous support of these Awards.

 

 

August 2024

 

 

 

We are excited to announce the Winners of
BigCi Environmental Awards 2024

BigCi Environmental Awards, now in their 10th year, focus on providing a platform for artists passionate about environmental concerns of the day. Relevance to our location on the edge of the Wollemi National Park in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains was essential.

We received a record number of submissions from Australian and International artists from wide variety disciplines working in different mediums.

We would like to say big thank you to all the artists who felt enthusiastic about our residency program and put time, effort and creativity into their applications.
We wish we could award you all!

Also thank you to our independent panel of judges, Diana Robson, Curator, and Mariam Abboud, Coordinator, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery and Museum.

And the Winners of BigCi Environmental Awards 2024 are:

Yandell Walton (Australia)
Mar Serinyà Gou (Spain)

Here is what the judges said about the Award Winners:

“The Hawkesbury Regional gallery is excited to work with the winners of the BigCi 2024 Environmental Art Award, Yandell Walton (Aus) and Mar Serinyà Gou (Spain).

Yandell Walton and Mar Serinyà Gou bring engaged and informed practices that explore human interaction and connection to the environment. Though each artist does so through a personal lens, their work asks the viewer to ruminate on their own relationship and impact to the environment, both in the present and the (not so distant) future.

Each artist brings welcome innovations to the gallery’s programming through new technologies and creative practice and the opportunity to support and exhibit work that responds to our unique landscape is significant.”

Thank you Hadley Green for their continuous support of these Awards.

July 2024

Additional Prizes and Judges Panel Announcement
BigCi Environmental Awards 2024
To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of BigCi Environmental Awards, we are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, who will provide an opportunity for each of the winning artists to have an exhibition at the gallery.

The Awards will be judged by Diana Robson, Curator, and Mariam Abboud, Coordinator, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery and Museum.

The Two Winners of the Environmental Awards will each receive (4) free weeks at the BigCi residency and $4,000 prize money. 

The winning artists will have an opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wollemi National Park, the Blue Mountains and the Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks. Each will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their BigCi residencies, artists will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.

The deadline for submissions is 22 July 2024.
Winners will be announced on 18 August 2024.

There is an entry fee of $35, which must be paid at the time of sending the submission. Entry fees are not refundable.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see

BigCi Environmental Awards 2024-Submission Form

Thank you Hadley Green for their continuous support of these Awards.

June 2024

Call for Submissions
BigCi Environmental Awards 2024

We are excited to announce that we are once again inviting artists to apply for BigCi Environmental Awards!

Australian and International artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2024.

Two Winners of the Awards will each receive (4) free weeks at the BigCi residency and $4,000 prize money.

The winning artists will have an opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wollemi, Blue Mountains and Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.

The Awards will be judged by an independent panel, to be announced soon.

The deadline for submissions is 22 July 2024.
Winners will be announced on 18 August 2024.

There is an entry fee of $35, which must be paid at the time of sending the submission. Entry fees are not refundable.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see

BigCi Environmental Awards 2024-Submission Form

Thank you Hadley Green for their continuous support of these Awards.

 

 

November 2023

 

 

 

We are excited to announce the Winners of
BigCi Environmental Awards 2023

BigCi Environmental Awards, now in their 9th year, focus on providing a platform for artists passionate about environmental concerns of the day. Relevance to our location on the edge of the Wollemi National Park in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains is essential.

We received a large number of submissions from Australian and International artists from wide variety disciplines working in different mediums.

We would like to say big thank you to all the artists who felt enthusiastic about our residency program and put time, effort and creativity into their applications.
We wish we could award you all!

Also thank you to our independent panel of judges:
Karen Miranda Abel, Canadian interdisciplinary artist and environmentalist.
Pippa Mott, curator and arts writer.
Dr Rosalie Chapple, co-founder of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute.

And the Winners of BigCi Environmental Awards 2023 are:

Jessica Mehta (USA)
Sonia Leber and David Chesworth (Australia)

Here is what the judges said about the Award Winners:

Pippa Mott

Aniyunwiya artist Jessica Mehta will provide a poetic response to the plight of the brush-tailed rock wallaby, reflecting a broader, timely perspective on extinction and land stewardship.

Experimental multi-disciplinary artistic duo Sonia Leber and David Chesworth will conduct sensory explorations into the elevations, gullies and deep time geologies of the Blue Mountains – their research culminating in a multi-channel video installation and soundscape composition. Together these artists are poised to create works that encourage deep respect and generosity towards the Wollemi National Park; its Traditional Custodians, biota, and geology.

 Karen Miranda Abel

Jessica’s submission was selected for highlighting much-needed sensitivity to and respect for the lived stories of the magnificent wildlife of the Blue Mountains. Her recognition of the endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby as a “citizen of the Wollemi” indicates an artistic practice rooted in compassion and an interest in the various ways of being and knowing experienced by the diverse life of the region. It is hoped that her proposal to lend her poetry to communicate the significance of endangered species will offer an important message about finding ways to listen to the unheard stories of our wildlife neighbours.

Sonia and David’s submission was selected for its proposed use of the immediacy and subtlety of sound and the intricacies of listening to investigate the inconceivable magnitude of deep geologic time within the context of the majestic Blue Mountains. It is hoped that their high-level work grounded in place-based research, participatory processes, and sensorial approaches to encountering environmental traces and signals will offer a unique immersion in deep time musings toward more elevated ways of caring for the environment of today.

 Dr Rosalie Chapple

I love Jessica’s focus on Indigenization and de-colonization as the driving forces behind her work. This is so relevant to Australia especially at this time, and her practice brings great potential for engagement with local Traditional Custodians and the opportunity for a “trans-Pacific Indigenous cultural exchange”. Jessica’s goal is to inform, to spark discourse, and to use art and research as tools for culture bearing and sharing. Jessica’s poetry is powerful and the focus on the endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby of the Wollemi is important.

I love Sonia’s and David’s focus on listening to build awareness and understanding. “What if listening were the primary mode of sensing the world? How might listening practices influence how we sense, understand, and care for the environment?” I am drawn to the artists’ exploration of different scales and intensities of sensing, listening to, and encountering the local environment. “Non-human listening, animism, geological tremors and environmental signals”. I love the focus on listening to what’s actually heard, to what’s imagined, to what’s possible, and ‘thinking through listening’ in natural ecosystems.

Thank you Hadley Green for their continuous support of these Awards.

August 2023

Call for Submissions – BigCi Environmental Awards 2023

We are excited to announce that we are once again inviting artists to apply for BigCi Environmental Awards!

Australian and International artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2023.

Two Winners of the Awards will each receive (4) free weeks of BigCi residency and $4,000 prize money.

The winning artists will have an opportunity to explore the Wollemi, the Blue Mountains and the Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.

The Awards will be judged by an independent panel:

Karen Miranda Abel is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist and environmentalist. She has twice been an Artist in Residence at BigCi and was selected as the 2017-2018 World Heritage Program Artist in Residence at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in NSW, Australia. The residency culminated in a solo exhibition at the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery in 2018.
Pippa Mott is the Director of Woollahra Gallery. This year, she completed a Fulbright-supported MA in the History of Art & Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Pippa has extensive experience in the arts and cultural sector, most recently as curator at the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona). Leveraging an academic background in archaeology and a track record of art-science exhibitions, material sensibility, interdisciplinarity and accessibility are at the core of her practice.
Dr Rosalie Chapple is Senior Research Fellow in the Transdisciplinary School at the University of Technology Sydney, co-founder of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute and teaches in the Master of Environmental Management at the University of New South Wales Sydney. Rosalie is an animal ecologist with wide-ranging interests and a focus on protected areas and wildlife.

The deadline for submissions is 2 October 2023.
Winners will be announced on 1 November 2023.

There is an entry fee of $35, which must be paid at the time of sending the submission. Entry fees are not refundable.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see

BigCi Environmental Awards 2023-Submission Form

Thank you Hadley Green for their continuous support of these Awards.

July 2023
BigCi / Arte Laguna Prize Collaboration

 

All artists applying for Arte Laguna Prize 18 can also make submissions to win a free 4-week residency at BigCi.

Arte Laguna Prize is a contest that welcomes artists of any age, country and artistic background, without gender differences and with a free theme.
The contest offers many opportunities to the participants to increase their network, get global visibility, as well as access to important resources for career development.
The contest is judged by a panel of international jurors composed of prominent curators and museum directors from different countries.
You can win a cash prize of € 10,000 and exhibit in Venice (Italy) at the Arsenale Nord.
More information and application link:
https://artelagunaprize.com/18th-edition-23-24/

Application deadline is 26 October 2023.

November 2022

September 2022
Call for Submissions – BigCi Environmental Awards 2022

We are excited to announce that we are once again inviting artists to apply for BigCi Environmental Awards!

Australian and International artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2022.

Two Winners of the Awards will each receive four free weeks of BigCi residency and $4,000 prize money. 

The winning artists will have an opportunity to explore the Wollemi, the Blue Mountains and the Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.

The Awards will be judged by an independent panel:

Jemila MacEwan, a New York based interdisciplinary environmental artist. She was a winner of 2021 BigCi Environmental Award.
Sabrina Roesner, a Blue Mountains based arts leader and artistic program manager.
Ryan Andrew Lee, a cinematographer and artist. He was a winner of 2021 BigCi Environmental Award.
Richard Morecroft, a nationally known broadcaster, visual arts interviewer, author and mixed media maker, with a long-standing environmental commitment.

The deadline for submissions is 4th of November 2022.
Winners will be announced on 26th of November 2022.

There is an entry fee of $35, which must be paid at the time of sending the submission. Entry fees are not refundable. They will be used to support these Awards and other BigCi artist-in-residence programs.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see

BigCi Environmental Awards 2022-Submission Form

August 2022
BigCi / Arte Laguna Prize Collaboration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All artists applying for Arte Laguna Prize 17 can also make submissions to win a free 4-week residency at BigCi.
Arte Laguna Prize is the international competition, with international jurors, dedicated to visual arts and design that gives artists the opportunity to join a large network of collaborations, get free visibility and sell their works on the online platform Arte Laguna World, win a cash prize of € 10,000, exhibit in Venice (Italy) at the Arsenale Nord.
The Prize is open to the following artistic disciplines: painting, sculpture and installation, photographic art, video art and short films, performance, digital art, digital graphics and cartoon, environmental and land art, urban art and street art, art design.

Application link: https://artelagunaprize.com/17-edition-applications/

Application deadline is 31 October 2022.

February 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2021
Call for Submissions – BigCi Environmental Awards 2021

BigCi is excited to announce we are once again inviting artists to apply for our annual Environmental Awards!

Australian artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2021.

The Awards will be judged by an independent panel:

Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
Chris Tobin, Darug Elder, Artist, and Cultural Educator
Lisa Cox, Environmental Reporter, The Guardian Australia

The judges will select two winners, who will each receive 4 free weeks of BigCi residency, as well as $3,000 prize money. 

There are no entry fees.

The winners of the award will have an opportunity to explore the Wollemi, the Blue Mountains and the Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at a BigCi Open Day event.

The deadline for submissions is 12th of February 2021.
Winners will be announced on 2nd of March 2021.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see

BigCi Environmental Awards 2021-Submission Form

March 2020

February 2020
BigCi Environmental Awards 2020 – Judges Announced

See the News post below for the Awards outline.

For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see
BigCi Environmental Award 2020 Submission Form

The Awards will be judged by an independent panel of judges:

Tom Zubrycki is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with a deep interest in theenvironment.  Tom’s documentaries have focused around a personal response to the issues of the day.  Tom has directed 17 documentaries and produced another 20 with mainly new and emerging directors. Tom is a recipient of the Stanley Hawes Award “In recognition of outstanding contribution to documentary filmmaking in Australia”.
More information is on his website. www.tomzubrycki.com

Dr Kate Bishop is Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her background in environment-behavior research underpins her teaching, research and design. She worked in private industry and government before becoming an academic. She is the author of a number of books. Addressing the challenges of climate change, urbanisation, and people and place relationships is central to all her work.

Carlotta Brunetti is an Italian/German land artist with a long established art practice. Her projects are installed all around the world. During her vibrant carrier, Carlotta received numerous awards, grants and scholarships and was a participant in Istanbul Biennial 2011 and 2017.
She has been a member of several juries.
Carlotta undertook residencies in Taiwan, I- Park, USA and BigCi (in 2012). Apart from being a judge of this Award, she will also present a lecture at the next BigCi Open Day on 8th March 2020. More information is on her website www.carlotta-brunetti.de

January 2020
Call for Submissions – BigCi Environmental Awards 2020
Australian and International Artists from various fields – visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, film making, curating – are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2020.

Submission Criteria
Your submission must show how you will respond to the environmental issues of the day using your chosen medium. Relevance to our location on the edge of the Wollemi National Park in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains is essential. The Greater Blue Mountains is an area of stunning scenic beauty, with its own unique flora, fauna and geomorphology. BigCi is located only 1.5 hours drive from Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, yet it is in a dramatically different world.
We are looking for inspirational projects that will be executed within the residency time frame. You can choose to deal with relevant environmental or natural science issues, explore ideas and concepts related to nature, or use this opportunity to creatively respond to the unique wilderness on our doorstep and the current challenges it faces.
The focus of the Award is on the environment. This is open to a wide range of interpretations, allowing you to work on aspects that are of most interest to you and fit best with your artistic practice.

Award Information

The two winning artists will each receive (4) free weeks of BigCi residency and AUD$2,500 spending money. In addition to that, up to AUD$2,000 travel subsidy will be shared between the two winners.
The winners of the award will have an opportunity to explore the Wollemi, the Blue Mountains and the Gardens of Stone National Parks on guided walks and will be given research assistance relevant to their projects. At the end of their residencies, they will present their work at BigCi Open Day.
There is an entry fee of AUD$30 that must be paid at the time of sending the submission. Entry fees are not refundable. They will be used to support these Awards and other BigCi artist-in-residence programs.
Submissions deadline is 29th of February 2020.
Winners announcement date is 20 of MARCH 2020.
For the SUBMISSION FORM & GUIDELINES, see
BigCi Environmental Award 2020 Submission Form

FOR PREVIOUS YEARS’ AWARDS PLEASE SEE UNDER ‘NEWS’
https://bigci.org/new-news/