{"id":345000,"date":"2026-03-24T08:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/345000\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T08:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:16:10","slug":"as-sculpture-by-the-sea-wraps-up-for-2026-this-years-award-winners-have-been-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/345000\/","title":{"rendered":"As Sculpture by the Sea wraps up for 2026, this year’s award winners have been announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sculpture by the Sea has wrapped up its massive return year on Cottesloe Beach, with a mix of local favourites and nationally recognised artists taking out some of the exhibition\u2019s top honours.<\/p>\n

Winner of the $5,000 EY People\u2019s Choice Award was acclaimed Australian artist Tim Storrier AM for Emperor of the Abrolhos \u2014 a striking, mirror-finished pelican sculpture inspired by the islands off WA\u2019s coast, designed to reflect the changing light and environment throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Kids\u2019 Choice Prize went to Drew McDonald for SOMA \u2014 a nod to the next generation of artists and creative thinkers and perhaps unsurprisingly appealing to kids, given it features dolphins (rather spectacularly) flying out of a toaster.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credit: Michael Goh<\/p>\n

They join a broader list of award winners announced as the iconic beachside exhibition drew to a close on Monday.<\/p>\n

Perth artist Jason Hirst was named the Exhibiting Artists\u2019 Pick for his work Love U \u2014 a playful, interactive piece that invited visitors to leave their own messages, turning the sculpture into a kind of evolving love letter across the course of the exhibition.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credit: Michael Goh<\/p>\n

Fellow WA artist Vaughn Bisschops also earned recognition, taking out the Sculpture by the Sea Staff Pick for Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens, a more contemplative work exploring ideas of spirituality, ritual and shared experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credit: Richard Watson<\/p>\n

Another WA artist to be recognised was Tim Haynes, who received the $5,000 Capral Artist Subsidy for his work The Ghost of Van Eileen. The piece reflects on memory, place and cultural disappearance, paying tribute to a much-loved Cottesloe burger van while exploring how everyday icons help shape a community \u2014 and what\u2019s lost when they disappear.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credit: Michael Goh<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s exhibition marked a strong return for Sculpture by the Sea in Perth after a year off, drawing more than 230,000 visitors across its run and showcasing around 70 works from artists spanning eight countries.<\/p>\n

Image Credit: Michael Goh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sculpture by the Sea has wrapped up its massive return year on Cottesloe Beach, with a mix of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-345000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}