Organizer Information
Flying Arts Alliance Inc. is a not-for-profit arts and cultural development organisation that has been delivering visual arts projects and services to regional and remote Queensland since 1971, when founder Mervyn Moriarty began flying a light aircraft across the state to bring authentic arts education to communities living far from metropolitan centres. Now known as Flying Arts Alliance since 1994, the organisation inspires the appreciation, practice, and professional development of the visual and media arts as a lifetime interest or career for all Queenslanders, and works to remove barriers that prevent access to art experiences in regional and remote areas. Flying Arts is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, and also administers the Regional Arts Fund in Queensland on behalf of Regional Arts Australia. The organisation established the Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA) in 2011 to celebrate the creativity of artists living across regional Queensland.
Title & Description
Queensland Regional Art Awards 2026
The Queensland Regional Art Awards is an annual art prize presented by Flying Arts Alliance, open to artists living in regional or remote Queensland. For 2026, the awards have no set theme, and Flying Arts states it encourages all eligible submissions. The prize pool totals $326,800 across an Overall Winner award and several category-specific awards, including a landscape award, awards recognising First Nations and remote artists, and awards for emerging and young artists, plus two People's Choice awards. Winners receive a combination of non-acquisitive cash prizes, solo exhibitions, residencies, editorial features, and marketing and PR packages. Finalists' and winners' artworks are exhibited in Brisbane and then tour regionally across Queensland into 2027.
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Photography
- Painting
- Sculpture
- Digital
- Video/Film
- Multimedia
Eligibility
- Artist must: live in regional or remote Queensland, outside the Brisbane City Council boundary
- Artist must: be 15 years or over
- Artwork submission must:
- be the original work of the artist(s)
- be completed in 2026
- fit within the stated size requirements (see Additional Details)
- include high-quality images for the first round of judging
- be accompanied by a 150-word artist statement
- name all artists and collaborators, and provide all locations and consent for entry
- not have previously won a major State, National, or International art prize or award
- only use cultural stories, imagery, or knowledge with appropriate permissions and acknowledgements
- For the Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Award: the artwork must relate to the landscape
- For the Remote Artist Award: the artist must live in an MM5 or higher area under the Modified Monash Model
- For the First Nations Artist Award: the artist must identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- For the Emerging Artist Award: the artist must have reached a point beyond hobby activities, be actively committed to professional practice, and may be undertaking or have recently completed specialised training or study (per the NAVA description of early career)
- For the Young Artist Award: the artist must be between 15 and 25 years old
- Entries meeting the general eligibility requirements qualify for the Overall and People's Choice Awards
Program Benefits & Awards
- Queensland Regional Art Awards Overall Winner
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $25,000
- Two-week solo exhibition at Jan Manton Gallery, 22 March–3 April 2027 (valued at $10,000)
- Residency in Bundaberg (valued at $10,000)
- Print editorial feature in Artist Profile (valued at $10,000)
- Featured Host for Meet by Flying Arts – March
- Online marketing and PR package via Flying Arts website and social channels (valued at $36,000), including individual social media posts for the win announcement, exhibition opening, exhibition spotlight, residency spotlight, and editorial feature, plus email marketing to members, VIPs, and subscribers
- The Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Award
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $10,000
- Residency in Cairns (valued at $10,000)
- Two-week solo exhibition and reception at FireWorks Gallery (valued at $10,000)
- Featured Host for Meet by Flying Arts – June
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $30,000)
- First Nations Artist Award
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $10,000
- Four-week solo exhibition and reception at Flying Arts' gallery (valued at $10,000)
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $24,000)
- Remote Artist Award
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $5,000
- Four-week solo exhibition and reception at Flying Arts' gallery (valued at $10,000)
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $24,000)
- Emerging Artist Award
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $5,000
- Creative Consultation session (valued at $150)
- Four-week solo exhibition and reception at Flying Arts' gallery (valued at $10,000)
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $24,000)
- Young Artist Award
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $5,000
- Creative Consultation session (valued at $150)
- Four-week solo exhibition and reception at Flying Arts' gallery (valued at $10,000)
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $24,000)
- People's Choice Award (Adult)
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $1,500, supported by TAFE Queensland
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $7,000)
- People's Choice Award (Ages 15–25)
- Non-acquisitive cash prize: $1,000, supported by TAFE Queensland
- Online marketing and PR package (valued at $7,000)
Application Fee
$25 per entry for young artists aged 15–25. $40 per entry for other entrants ($35 for Flying Arts members, who must supply a valid membership number to access the reduced fee). Fees include GST. Entry fees are refundable if an artwork is deemed ineligible. Artists may submit multiple entries, but each entry may include only one artwork.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 18 September 2026
- Finalists announced: 15 October 2026
- People's Choice voting opens: 16 October 2026
- Finalist artworks due to Flying Arts: 9 November 2026
- People's Choice voting closes: 24 November 2026
- Gala Awards Night: 26 November 2026
- QRAA exhibition in Brisbane: from November 2026, touring regional Queensland until December 2027
- Overall Winner solo exhibition at Jan Manton Gallery: 22 March – 3 April 2027
Location
Regional and remote Queensland, Australia
Additional Details
- Artwork size requirements: 2D works (with frame) and wall-hanging 3D works: max. 120cm height × 120cm width, under 10kg. Free-standing 3D works: max. 50cm height × 120cm width × 120cm depth, under 25kg. Digital work: to be displayed on a standard-size TV or projected, under 5 minutes. Larger 3D works may be considered if they can be packed down to fit within the stated dimensions.
- Finalist requirements: artwork must be available for the entirety of 2027 for inclusion in touring exhibitions; must be delivered to and collected from the Flying Arts office in Brisbane at the artist's expense; must be prepared for display (2D works fitted with D-rings, canvases stretched, works on paper or delicate 2D works framed); glazed works must use perspex, not glass
- Commission: a 20% commission is charged on all sales; where an entrant is represented by a gallery, it is the entrant's responsibility to notify their gallery of participation, and any commissioning arrangement with that gallery is separate from Flying Arts' commission
- Use of AI: AI tools may be used in creating an artwork only as a tool, not as the generator of significant final content; entrants must declare that AI is not the substantive output and that copyright/moral rights are owned by the artist, and must provide a full description of the AI tools/programs and processes used, which may be shared alongside the work for transparency; works found in breach are ineligible for awards
- Copyright clearance: entrants grant Flying Arts permission to display their work online; selected touring artists and winners grant permission for Flying Arts, touring partners, sponsors, and tour venues to photograph and/or use submitted photo documentation for promotion, publications, education resources, reporting, and archives, without a fee being paid for these purposes; artists' moral rights are maintained and appropriate attribution used; artworks will not be reproduced for commercial activities or promotions without the artist's consent
- People's Choice terms: artists agree to the display and broadcast of their submitted entry for voting; Flying Arts reserves the right not to publish artworks deemed unsuitable or offensive; promotions that incentivise votes through goods or services make an entry ineligible for the People's Choice Award; People's Choice winners are not automatically selected to tour
- Curators and/or venues reserve the right not to install artworks deemed unsafe for public display, and may use a selection process at their discretion if the number of artworks exceeds venue capacity
- Submission of the online entry form indicates the artist's consent to the full terms and conditions
- Judges rely primarily on submitted images/links and the artist statement for the first round of judging; winners are chosen in person and announced at the Gala