The Orange Art Society has announced a new annual art prize to honour the memory of long-serving committee member and former president David Mason.

Mr Mason, who passed just weeks ago, was a much-loved member of the local art community. He was actively involved in the society’s committee, serving as president for eight years.

In a statement announcing the prize, the society said:

“As a painter, he was a talented all-rounder, equally comfortable with any subject matter, whether landscapes, still life, animals, portraits or figures. He had a great gift for teaching his students about composition, tone, and colour mixing, among other skills…

“He will be remembered for his humility, gentle encouragement, his sense of humour and his significant contribution to our society.”

The society announced the new David Mason Memorial Art Prize at last week’s Orange Art Prize award presentation.

Orange Art Society president Megan Haire said the new competition would launch in 2027, replacing the Orange Art Prize (a figurative art competition), and would be expanded to include a wider range of artistic styles.

On hearing the news, Mr Mason’s family offered to donate the prize money for the next two years.

Ms Haire said the 2026 Orange Art Prize attracted a real depth of talent, with painters tackling the theme ‘People at Work’ in a surprising variety of ways.

“The quality, we felt, was very high,” Ms Haire said. “We had everything: we had people working and sharing sheds, we had firefighters, we had a farrier, we had cooks and a waiter and construction workers. We had very small paintings, eight by ten, and we had quite large paintings. Some very colourful, some very subtle. So there was a great range!”

This year’s winner of the $1000 first prize, determined by guest judge Sarah Randall of Orange Regional Gallery, was Olwyn Ashton for her work ‘The War of the Roses’.

“It’s quite a small painting, but quite detailed,” Ms Haire said. “It has a back view of a person looking out a window into a garden, where other people are working hard on pruning, roses and other gardening tasks.

“But it is the kind of painting that you can keep looking at because there’s so much going on in it… and very, very well executed.”

The $500 second prize was awarded to Sampa Bhakta for ‘Construction Workers’.

Highly commended were Nancy McAlpine for ‘Time for a Trim’, Susie Sanders for ‘Replacing the Verandah Post’, and Chris O’Leary for ‘SES’.

Look out for further details of the David Mason Memorial Art Prize early in 2027.