If your child or teen loves to paint, get them to submit a portrait or landscape to the The Young Dobell competition.
In its second year and in celebration of the Lake Macquarie Dobell Festival, the Museum of Art and Culture, yapang is inviting budding artists aged 5 – 18 to participate in the Young Dobell competition.
It could end up on the walls of Museum of Art and Culture yapang as one of the finalist paintings to inspire the next generation of artists!
The Young Dobell competition encourages 5-18 years olds to to create either a portrait of a person or pet who plays a significant role in their life, or a landscape artwork of a place that is special to them.
The competition is named after Sir William Dobell, a three-time Archibald Prize winner who lived in Lake Macquarie. He was was known for his portraits and landscape artworks as well as paintings of his dogs. His beloved pet dogs were also a favoured subject matter for Dobell.
There are two theme categories and seven age groups in the competition.
Theme categories:
- Portrait of a person or pet
- Landscape artwork of a place that is important to the artist
Age groups:
- 5 & 6 year olds
- 7 & 8 year olds
- 9 & 10 year olds
- 11 & 12 year olds
- 13 & 14 year olds
- 15 & 16 year olds
- 17 & 18 year olds
The competition is open to young people throughout Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Maitland, the broader Hunter Valley areas and the Central Coast.
The winners in each age category will be presented with a certificate and a MAC yapang Workshop Voucher. This voucher can be used to attend any workshop held at MAC yapang!
The Young Dobell competition commences on Saturday 1 March and closes at 12pm on Thursday 8 May 2025.
It’s a wonderful opportunity for kids to paint an individual or pet close to them. There’s no shortage of people they can choose to paint from mum and dad, grandparents, other family members, a best friend or a neighbour. They can also do a landscape artwork from a local Hunter region place or setting.
Guidelines:
About your portrait subject
Museum of Art and Culture, yapang prefer that the portrait is painted from life and that the subject has a sitting for their portrait. Artists may also create the portrait from memory or take a photograph to use for reference.
About your landscape subject
Museum of Art and Culture, yapang encourage landscape artworks based on a setting of importance and the local area. Artworks could be produced outdoors or reflecting on place.
The Young Dobell competition will be judged by by Ellie Hannon and MAC yapang Curator, Jasmine Kean.
All artwork selected as finalists in the competition will be on display in the Young Dobell exhibition at the Museum of Art and Culture, yapang (MAC yapang). This exhibition is on view 31 May – 3 August 2025.
To find out more about the Young Dobell competition and to submit your child’s entry, visit the Lake Macquarie City Council website.