Introducing the winners of the 2025 Waverley Youth Art Prize

Every year, we celebrate emerging young artists aged 9-18 who live or study in Waverley by opening the Waverley Youth Art Prize, a showcase of artistic talents in our youth community. Young artists are asked to respond to a different theme each year and submit an entry to the prize, with all mediums and interpretations welcomed.

On Thursday, 5 June, we gathered at Waverley Library for the opening of the Youth Art Prize, where the winners of each prize were announced, and the community enjoyed all the fantastic entries. This year marks 40 years of the Waverley Youth Art Prize, and to celebrate this, young artists were asked to interpret the theme ‘celebration time’ when creating their artwork.

At the helm of judging this year’s prize was Luke Kennedy, who created the North Bondi mural above Wally Weekes pool and also won the Art Prize in 2003, and Archibald Prize winner Fiona Lowry, who is also a former Youth Art Prize winner.

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Pictured (left to right): Fiona Lowry, Tanya Goldberg, Luke Kennedy

The entries from this year’s prize will be on display at Waverley Library until 24 June. Congratulations to all entrants and winners of this year’s Art Prize, who created an array of impressive pieces that truly brighten the library and inspire awe in us all.

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The full list of winners includes:

Poppy Michael & Stella Michael – Best Three-Dimensional Creation with The Aftermath

Lior Kaunitz – Best New Media Artwork with Wombat

Emily Johanna Liyanage – The Mayor’s Prize Highly Commended with A stroll between seasons

Wendy Wei – The Mayor’s Prize Winner with Australia’s Brushstroke

Lexi Smith – Best Interpretation of the theme with The Smallest Celebration

Age category prizes

Junior Category (9-12)

Marlow Emmanuel Haskas – 1st prize with Freddy

Lilee Corkill – 2nd prize with Sunrise Over the Ocean

Clair Chen – 3rd prize with Future House

Samuel Ren – Highly commended with It’s Quiet Christmas Night

Intermediate Category (13-15)

Lavender Chow – 1st prize with Off Duty Lifeguard

Avery Chen – 2nd prize with Grandparents’ Golden Wedding Anniversary

Alex Ryan – 3rd prize with Blue with Flowers

Celine Wang – Highly commended with Birthday Celebrations

Senior Category (16-18)

Maggie Edwards – 1st prize with Corner of the QVB

Charlotte Birbeck – 2nd prize with Celebration of Sound

Angelina Wu – 3rd prize with Awakening the Dragon

Sylvia Zhang – Highly commended with Gala of the Deep