The National Emerging Art Prize is a unique platform for the most exciting new voices in Australian contemporary art, offering art lovers and collectors the chance to discover and acquire original work from the country’s next wave of creative talent. Having garnered a record number of submissions in its fifth year, the awards program is proud to present this year’s finalists in the National Emerging Art Prize Exhibition at The Garden Gallery.
Supported by founding sponsor Morgans Financial Limited, the 2025 NEAP exhibition features outstanding work by more than 100 emerging, unrepresented Australian artists working in the fields of painting and photography. These finalists were selected by an expert panel of leading contemporary artists, curators and tastemakers led by NEAP’s co–founder and curator, Amber Creswell Bell.
Countless artists first discovered through NEAP’s channels have gone on to enjoy successful exhibition careers. The expertise and eye for talent among NEAP’s selection panel ensures this beautifully curated exhibition will be an essential destination for all art lovers, collectors, aesthetes and talent spotters to discover and acquire original, affordable work by artists on the cusp of breakout success, wider recognition and new levels of collectability.
For emerging artists, NEAP offers national exposure and multilayered support towards building a sustained and successful long–term art career with gallery representation. The artists selected as winners in this year’s program share in a prize pool valued at more than $40,000 – including a top prize of $20,000 for the winner of the ultimate accolade, The Morgans Financial Prize for an Emerging Painter, and $10,000 for the winner of the inaugural Photography Prize.
All works shortlisted for this year’s National Emerging Art Prize will be available to view and acquire at the NEAP exhibition, open to the public from October 31 to November 7 at The Garden Gallery in the heart of the city’s culture precinct.
