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Meet the Artist Behind the Other-Worldly Butterflies and Insects in Mecca’s 2026 Holiday Artwork Tai Snaith It started with Tai Snaith pouring inks and watercolours in her Abbotsford studio – soon it’ll be all over your holiday gifts. In partnership with Mecca, we chat to the Melbourne artist about the joyful commission and being part of the NGV Triennial. The season of giving takes a more colourful, whimsical turn each year thanks to Mecca’s festive holiday packaging. Whether it’s a Kris Kringle gift at a work party or a present for your sister hidden under the tree, the packaging takes…
Meet Tai Snaith: The Artist Behind Our Wildest Holiday Yet! Words by Romy Erdos The most wonderful time of the year is here – the moment MECCA reveals the artist whose work will light up our stores and adorn countless gifts, from Friendsmases to family lunches, Kris Kringles to work mingles. And this year, things are getting a little wild. “I hope that it makes people feel like they can be their weird selves, with all their imperfections and nuances and celebrate their own wild chorus within,” says Australian artist and author Tai Snaith of the Join the Wild Chorus…
Robson Rak design an expressive home in Melbourne with surprises at every turn Designed around the owners’ art collection, this two-bedroom home turns the constraints of downsizing into a creative opportunity, pairing heritage details with bold flourishes. Photographed by Anson Smart. Architecture, Interior design, furniture, art procurement and styling by Robson Rak. Saskia Tillers September 30, 2026 – 8:28AM Downsizing needn’t mean limiting or losing sight of personality. Instead, it can provide an otherwise unforeseen opportunity to consolidate, curate and flex creative muscles. Never has this sentiment rung truer than at Celine, a Victorian home in Melbourne’s leafy eastern…
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In its initial format, ‘Shuffle’ highlights a selection of acquisitions made over the past twelve months. As these works lease, they will be replaced – or shuffled – with older pieces from our collection, presenting the exhibition in a perpetually changing form. By bringing new art into dialogue with the old, ‘Shuffle’ highlights the diversity of materials, breadth of practice, and artistic voices that comprise our ever-moving collection. ‘Shuffle’ continues until 30 October. Artbank Melbourne is open Tues-Fri, 10:00am-4:00pm. Artist list (first iteration) Gene A’Hern, Jacobus Capone, Hayley Panangka Coulthard, Sean Crowley, Mikala Dwyer, Amelia Gill, Dianne Ungukalpi Golding, Ryan…
The Portia Geach Memorial Award is Australia’s most prestigious art prize for portraiture by women artists. The Award was established by the will of the late Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister, Portia Geach. The non-acquisitive award of $30,000 is awarded by the Trustee for the entry which is of the highest artistic merit, ‘…for the best portrait painted from life of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, or the Sciences by any female resident who was born in Australia or was British born or has become a naturalised Australian and whose place of domicile is Australia.’…
Tai Snaith’s work ‘Affirmative Animals’ is a finalist in this year’s Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize. The Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize (SSCP) was established in 2020 by Mud Australia Founder and Creative Director, Shelley Simpson, to support and champion the next generation of Australian ceramicists. Presented in partnership with Craft Victoria, the annual prize is open to ceramic artists working across functional ware, fine art, handcrafted objects and broader commercial ceramic practices. Alongside a $10,000 cash prize, shortlisted finalists will be exhibited at Craft Victoria as part of a dedicated exhibition celebrating contemporary Australian ceramics. The finalists’ work will be exhibited…
Judith van Heeren is a finalist in the 2026 Maldon Landscape Prize with her work ‘Pink moon’. The 2026 Maldon Landscape Prize, themed “Essence of Place,” is a national art award in Australia presented by the Maldon Artist Network and Cascade Art Gallery, encouraging diverse, inventive interpretations of the landscape. The finalist exhibition runs from September 26 to October 24, 2026, at the Cascade Art Gallery. “Essence of Place” invites artists to capture their personal, figurative, spiritual, impressionistic, or abstract responses to the environment and land. The Prize is generously supported by the Hillary Merkus Recordati Foundation.
Judith van Heeren is a finalist in the 2026 R & M McGivern Prize with her painting ‘Old Moon’. The R & M McGivern Prize was established by the will of the late Muriel Evelyn McGivern, a local resident and artist of Maroondah, as a legacy of Muriel’s support of the arts in Maroondah. The Prize is awarded every three years by the Trustee for outstanding, original artwork in the medium of painting in oil and watercolour (including gouache). The R & M McGivern Prize is an acquisitive award and the winning artworks will become the property of the Maroondah…
Heidi Yardley is a finalist in the 2026 John Leslie Art Prize at Gippsland Art Gallery with her painting ‘Dark Wood, Dark Water’. One of Australia’s most prestigious prizes for landscape painting, the John Leslie Art Prize consistently attracts the highest calibre of artists from all corners of Australia. Named after the Gallery’s Patron John Leslie OBE (1919–2016), the continuation of this highly sought acquisitive prize is made possible through the generous ongoing support of the Gippsland Art Gallery Foundation. The exhibition of finalists runs from 5 September until 22 November. Judges for the 2026 John Leslie Art Prize are…
Tonee Messiah is featured on Richard Graham’s podcast ‘Australian Women Artists’. “I think it would be fair to say that Tonee Messiah’s work asks questions of you. It asks that you stand in front and notice how you feel. Her paintings have been described by her as living in the landscape of the mind. Tonee Messiah was born in Israel and spent her childhood moving between a kibbutz and coastal Australia, finally settling in Sydney at eleven. That experience of perpetual transition — of never quite arriving — became the foundation of one of the most quietly original painting practices in the country.…
Gold rush: Berlin-based artist scoops Rocky prize Karla Marchesi’s colourful floral painting style has just won her Queensland’s richest painting prize. Berlin-based Brisbane artist Karla Marchesi has just won Rockhampton Museum of Art’s $50,000 Gold Award. Photo: Dale Grant It is hard to comprehend the impact a major prize can have on an artist. Karla Marchesi, Brisbane-born and now living and working in Berlin, has just won the state’s richest painting prize – the $50,000 Gold Award – for her hyper-colourful and visually decadent paintings. It was not just the financial boost that resonated so strongly for this artist, but…
Congratulations to Karla Marchesi who has been awarded the 2026 Gold Award for her painting ‘Wasted waiting’ at the Rockhampton Museum of Art. Now in its seventh iteration, the biennial Gold Award remains the richest painting prize in Queensland, offering a $50,000 acquisitive award. Named in honour of the late Rockhampton philanthropist Moya Gold, the prize continues her legacy by supporting contemporary Australian artists while enriching Rockhampton Museum of Art’s nationally significant collection. The 2026 prize was judged by eminent Australian artist Jenny Watson, whose influential conceptual painting practice spans more than four decades. The exhibition featuring the invited artists…