Each year students exhibiting in the Out Front exhibition at Manly Art Gallery & Museum (M&G&M) can apply for the distinguished Theo Batten Youth Art Award.
This year the Theo Batten Youth Art Award, worth $5000, has been judged by respected UNSW Art & Design Associate Professor Lizzie Muller. The funds help support talented young artists pursue arts studies at a tertiary level.
This year’s joint winners are:
• Jazz Hartmann from Forest High School for a painting entitled Fragments of Discomfort
• Zahara Spring from St Luke’s Grammar School for charcoal on paper triptych entitled Nurture, Bond, Desire
Each recipient will receive $2000.
Judge Lizzie Muller also awarded a Highly Commended for $1000 to Charlie Heinrich from Covenant Christian School for Posca paint pens on paper entitled Childhood Memories.
Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said the high standard of work by these young students was impressive.
“We are proud to continue to showcase the incredible works by the talented young artists living on Northern Beaches.
“The artwork produced this year is phenomenal. It is a tremendous achievement by these young, aspiring artists.
“Congratulations to the award recipients and to those students selected to exhibit in Out Front 2025,” Mayor Heins said.
Out Front 2025 exhibition highlights 23 artworks by Northern Beaches HSC Visual Art students with the works on display from 21 February to 6 April 2025 at MAG&M.
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Editor’s note
Theo Batten Youth Art Award is an annual prize of $5000 presented as part of the Higher School Certificate visual arts exhibition Out Front held at Manly Art Gallery & Museum (MAG&M). The award is shared among Sydney’s Northern Beaches HSC visual arts students chosen to exhibit in the annual exhibition and who are going on to pursue studies in the broad arts field. The prize funds can be used for expenses related to their studies.
Theo Batten (1918-2003) was a celebrated local artist and journalist, winning a Walkley Award in 1972. He trained at the National Art School and was actively involved in the MAG&M Society and the former Peninsula Art Society. A passionate storyteller and advocate for the arts, he established this award to support young artists in furthering their creative education.
Judge’s Comments: Lizzie Muller
Judging this prize was extremely difficult as all the artists have distinctive and compelling visual styles, and all are clearly passionate and dedicated to their work. Huge congratulations to each of the nine applicants. However, three of the artists’ works and statements stood out in terms of their capacity to reflect on their own practices, and the work that art does. These three artists identified challenges, and how they had overcome them through their engagement with materials or process. They showed openness to the “talk-back” of their own artworks, and as a result, innovation and bravery. These qualities produce a feeling of depth in the resulting pieces – a sense that you are experiencing a conversation between the artist and their work. The ability to consciously learn from experience, and share that learning is in keeping with the vision of the Theo Batten Award, and it was this in the end that allowed me to select two winners: Jazz Hartmann and Zahara Spring, and Highly Commended to Charlie Heinrich.