Major Prize winning entry by Cyrulla:
‘The Visitor II’, 2008
oil on linen
104.5 x 157 cm

Painter Dagmar Cyrulla of Kensington has taken out the $3000 major prize for the best exhibit in the 2009 Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize. She was one of 106 artists short-listed to exhibit from a record number of entries received from across Australia. The launch and awards ceremony was held at The Substation arts centre in Newport on 20 March with a crowd of over 400 people in attendance.
The Contemporary Art Prize is run annually as part of the Williamstown Festival. Judges for this year were noted Melbourne artist Rick Amor, Director of Gallery 101 Dianna Gold, and Curator of Australian Art Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria David Hurlston. They released the following statement regarding the winning entry.
“The judges were extremely impressed with the overall high standard of entries in the 2009 Williamstown Contemporary Art Award. While this made the judging of the 2009 prize a particularly challenging task the final selection was unanimous. The winning entry, The visitor II by Dagmar Cyrulla, impressed the judges by its competent yet understated execution; we considered it an engaging work, rich in its visual narrative and layered content�.