Emerging artist Karen Stephens will travel more than 1200 kilometres from her home in Winton to attend the McGregor Summer Art Retreat at the University of Southern Queensland following her win at the 2018 Flying Arts Alliance’s Regional Artist Award (Remote Artist).

Ms Stephens said she was excited to be chosen for the McGregor Bursary, entitling her to a fully-funded one-week residency at McGregor Summer School, valued at $2500. “The opportunity means a great deal to me as an artist to continue learning new skills and connecting with like-minded people in the field of arts,” Karen said. “I am looking forward to an intensive week of experimentation to expand my painting practice. I hope to learn new skills, network with other artists and maybe create a new body of work for exhibition.”

The Queensland Regional Art Awards is an annual visual arts prize and touring exhibition for established and emerging artists living in regional and remote Queensland. Ms Stephens won for her work titled Mitchell, Feathertop and Flinders. “The theme for the 2018 prize was Wanderlust and my contemporary painting highlights one facet of the local landscape of Winton – the omnipresent grasses; Mitchell, Feathertop and Flinders that are seen by a traveller passing through this space,” she said. “My painting also explores the relationship between spectator and space. The painting not only highlights artists working in remote regions but also promotes distant places with points of interest that may go unnoticed to those living in the greater areas of Queensland.

Karen’s work is one of 26 artworks that have been selected for Wanderlust, the exhibition outcome of the Queensland Regional Art Awards, which will tour to a number of regional centres during 2019 and 2020.

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