Winners 2025

EXHIBITION PROJECTS – GALLERIES AND VISUAL ARTS
Small or Volunteer Galleries

Winner

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
Dhuluny: the war that never ended
Curated by Wiradyuri/Kamilaroi curator Jonathan Jones with Wirribee Aunty Leanna Carr, Dhuluny: the war that never ended commemorated 200 years since the 1824 Declaration of Martial Law in Bathurst. Meaning “the direct or gospel truth,” Dhuluny shared Wiradyuri perspectives on frontier conflict and resilience through works by contemporary and historical Wiradyuri artists. Developed with the Wiradyuri community, the exhibition embodied truth-telling and celebrated the resilience of the Wiradyuri Nation

Highly Commended

Hawkesbury Regional Gallery
Burnt Into Memory/Dancing with the Devil
Burnt into Memory evolved from the documentary Dancing with the Devil, capturing stories from the Hawkesbury community during the 2019–2020 bushfires. Expanding into a major exhibition, it brought together artists with firsthand experience in the fire zone to reflect on loss, resilience and recovery. Combining trauma-informed practice with art, the project fostered healing, empathy and connection across fire-affected communities.

Highly Commended

Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, Singleton Arts + Cultural Centre, with Arts Upper Hunter
LiddellWORKS
LiddellWORKS was a major collaborative exhibition that invited 16 artists to respond creatively to the decommissioning of the Liddell Power Station. Featuring diverse new works, the project reflected on history, community and the carbon transition, capturing the site’s industrial, social and environmental legacy. Presented across Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre and Singleton Arts + Cultural Centre, the exhibition explored themes of transformation, memory and regional

EXHIBITION PROJECTS – GALLERIES AND VISUAL ARTS
Medium

Winner

Grafton Regional Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre & Lismore Regional Gallery with Arts Northern Rivers
Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali
Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali celebrates the rich woven histories and identities of Bundjalung women, connecting ancestral knowledge with contemporary practice. Touring Grafton, Lismore, and Murwillumbah, the exhibition presents new works by First Nations artists responding to their great-grandmothers’ weaving, alongside historic objects from the Australian Museum. Artists including Bindimu, Janelle Duncan, Madeleine Grace, Lauren Jarrett, Tania Marlowe, Bianca Monaghan, Krystal Randall, Rhoda Roberts AO, Kyra Togo, and Margaret Torrens breathe new life into ancient weaving traditions.

Highly Commended

Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery
Blak Douglas: The Halfway Line
Blak Douglas: The Halfway Line was a landmark mid-career survey that traces the artist’s thirty-year journey from early graphic design to award-winning portraiture. Co-curated by Djon Mundine OAM and Toby Chapman, the exhibition focused on the emergence of Douglas’s iconic aesthetic and voice, speaking truth to power, and attracted record audiences through major loans, new works, and extensive public and education programs.

Highly Commended

Blacktown Arts
A Real Experience 
A Real Experience celebrated senior-career female artists connected to Blacktown through works from the Blacktown City Art Collection and the Garage Graphix archive. Centred on Vivienne Binns’ landmark Mothers’ Memories, Others’ Memories, the exhibition explored women’s stories, advocacy and activism. A new collaboration with the Older Women’s Network, led by Amani Haydar, extended this legacy, amplifying the voices of local women today.

Highly Commended

Campbelltown Arts Centre
Marikit Santiago: Proclaim Your Death!
Proclaim Your Death! was a major solo exhibition by Filipino-Australian artist Marikit Santiago. Combining painting, installation, and family collaboration, the exhibition explored displacement, identity, and resilience. Anchored by a large-scale cardboard installation of San Augustin Church and featuring oil paintings, watercolours, and video, it engaged over 500 participants through workshops, public programs, and an education kit, merging personal and collective narratives into a profound dialogue on survival and cultural memory.

EXHIBITION PROJECTS – Major Metropolitan Institutions

Winner

Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney
Mungari: Fishing, Resistance, Return
Mungari celebrated the return of four Gweagal spears taken by James Cook in 1770. Guided by Gweagal descendants and the Dharawal community, the exhibition displayed the spears alongside traditional fishing tools and contemporary works, honouring cultural resilience, continuity of knowledge, and community-led repatriation. Designed as a culturally safe space for truth-telling and community engagement.

Highly Commended

State Library of NSW
Dr Bronwyn Bancroft AM: The Country Cries for Truth
The Country Cries for Truth presented works created by Bundjalung artist Dr Bronwyn Bancroft, during her First Nations Creative Fellowship at the State Library of NSW. Through painting, storytelling and family artefacts, Dr Bancroft reclaimed her ancestral lands and exposed the enduring impact of colonisation. The exhibition calls for us to pause and consider the devastation of colonisation for Aboriginal people, and to remember the complex and painful legacies of this history

EXHIBITION PROJECTS – MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE
Volunteer Organisations

Winner

Port Macquarie Museum
Barayal Bila
Barayal Bila (River Song) celebrates the cultural and environmental significance of Dungang (Hastings River). Through audio and visual storytelling, the exhibition includes poetry, artworks, Birpai voices and Gathang language, highlighting the deep connections of local people to the river and inviting reflection on its natural and cultural history, and future.

Highly Commended

Pilot’s Cottage Museum
Aboriginal history permanent displays
Kiama Historical Society worked with respected Aboriginal Elder Dr Aunty Joyce Donovan to transform the way Aboriginal and post-settlement history is displayed and interpreted in the Pilot’s Cottage Museum. This volunteer-led project quadrupled the space for Aboriginal stories, integrated them into broader narratives, and increased cultural awareness, truth telling and reconciliation. The museum now tells all the history of the area, not just of settlers, and is described as ‘living’ – encouraging ongoing input and discussion from Aboriginal people and others.

EXHIBITION PROJECTS – MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE
Small Organisations

Winner

Tweed Regional Museum
How To Draw A Dinosaur
How to Draw a Dinosaur combined fossils, science, and contemporary art, blurring the lines between science and imagination. One of the first dinosaur exhibitions created for and by a regional museum in Australia, it demonstrated the highest levels of curatorial quality, community relevance, and creative thinking. The exhibition’s playful, hands-on approach made complex scientific ideas accessible to all ages. It achieved the highest visitation in the museum’s history, increasing attendance by 131%. It was also successful in securing Regional Arts Touring funding, with a NSW regional tour now underway.

Highly Commended

Fairfield City Museum & Gallery
Villawood: Between Hope and Hopelessness
Villawood has a complex history, as a testing ground for social and urban planning, a landing place for migrants and, in recent decades, it is synonymous with immigration detention. This exhibition covers a century of conflicting narratives, defining Villawood as a place in flux, caught between hope and hopelessness.

Highly Commended

Riversdale Homestead, Saumarez Homestead, and Grossmann House, National Trust NSW
Back to Black
Back to Black was a touring exhibition across regional NSW that explored the cultural and historical meaning of black in fashion. Regional communities accessed 150 years of textile and fashion history, benefitted from volunteer training, and engaged with high-quality displays, building local skills and connecting audiences with nationally significant heritage. Back to Black exemplifies excellence in heritage interpretation, outreach and capacity building—transforming a static collection into a dynamic touring experience and inspiring new conversations about fashion’s role in social history.

EXHIBITION PROJECTS – MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE
Medium Organisations

Winner

Qtopia Sydney
We’re Here, We’re Queer
We’re Here, We’re Queer celebrates LGBTQIA+ pride across Australia and beyond. Featuring colourful maps, Queer terminology and bold symbolism, this exhibition transforms hidden stories into loud pride. From local bubbles to global movements, We’re Here, We’re Queer offers a powerful reminder of visibility, resilience and community. It exemplifies how exhibitions can go beyond traditional display to become platforms for healing, dialogue, and empowerment. It stands as a landmark project that has amplified pride, challenged invisibility, and made a lasting contribution to LGBTQIA+ storytelling in Australia.

ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Small and Volunteer Organisations

Winner

Bank Art Museum Moree
Team Trampoline
Developed by BAMM with artist Meg Wilson, Team Trampoline engaged more than 50 young people across the Moree Plains to design and weave trampoline mats from recycled cotton. Culminating in a public exhibition of the finished trampolines, the program built confidence, skills, and community pride through hands-on, youth-led collaboration.

Highly Commended

Orange Regional Museum
History Futures
History Futures is a full-day education program that connects Years 9–12 students across the Central West with study and career pathways in history and humanities. Over 150 students in the inaugural program explored careers in journalism and the GLAM sector through guest talks, behind-the-scenes tours, and hands-on workshops.

Highly Commended

Lismore Regional Gallery
Art and Ageing Enrichment Program
The Art and Ageing Enrichment Program supports the wellbeing of older adults through weekly gallery tours, morning tea and hands-on artmaking. Guided by artist Aaron McGarry and volunteers, participants explore diverse art forms while connecting socially. Free and accessible, the program fosters intergenerational exchange, strengthens community ties, and combats isolation.

ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Medium Organisations

Winner

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
Dhuluny: the war that never ended
Curated by Wiradyuri/Kamilaroi curator Jonathan Jones with Wiradyuri Elder Wirribee Leanna Carr, Dhuluny: the war that never ended commemorated 200 years since the Declaration of Martial Law in the Bathurst region. Developed as part of The Dhuluny Project, the exhibition and programs offered opportunities for truth-telling, reflection and resilience through Wiradyuri art, culture and storytelling. The program amassed over 67,000 participants in a powerful act of community remembrance and learning.

Highly Commended

Grafton Regional Gallery
Superpower – Community Capes
The gallery partnered with Acmena Juvenile Justice Centre to create workshops for young people in custody. Using activities designed by Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding that accompanied his exhibition POWER – The Future is Here, the participants created superhero capes exploring cultural identity and personal storytelling, which were then exhibited alongside Golding’s work. The innovative program provided access to creative mentorship, celebrated Aboriginal culture, and connected participants with the wider community.

ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Large Organisations

Winner

Newcastle Art Gallery
MEGAN COPE: Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House
MEGAN COPE: Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House transformed Newcastle Harbour into a vibrant hub celebrating community collaboration, ancestral technologies and environmental stewardship. Over ten days, a program of events (including workshops, performances and a community oyster-cleaning initiative) engaged nearly 4,000 attendees. Collaborating with First Nations knowledge holders, artists, and students, the project fostered learning while activating the waterfront in inventive ways.

Highly Commended

PHIVE
The Western Terrace Series
PHIVE’s Western Terrace Series engaged emerging and early-career Western Sydney creatives to transform the site into an extension of the home and neighbourhood through curating performances, sharing everyday cultural practices and telling stories. The co-created program offered immersive, intergenerational experiences for audiences while providing professional development opportunities for First Nations, CALD and marginalised creatives.

ACCESSIBLE ARTS AWARD FOR ACCESS AND INCLUSION

Winner

Parramatta Artists Studios
PAS Access & Inclusion Program 2024–25
PAS are committed to improving access and inclusion in its program and will continue to seek out and endeavour to meet best practice standards for the communities that it supports. Over this year-long period, their approach combined co-design, transparent information, multiple modes of participation, and staff capability. This program was made more accessible through co-designed resources, barrier free application support, safer sensory environments, proactive accommodations, skilled staff, and clear venue info.

This joined up model demonstrably reduces barriers across the artist journey, from first contact to programming, and embeds disability leadership within PAS activity.

Highly Commended

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
MCA Mega Draw
MCA Mega Draw was developed with accessibility at its core, through consultation, training, and activities that promoted inclusion.

Autism Spectrum Australia conducted an Accessibility Audit with recommendations for sensory adaptations on lighting and Museum announcements, and 20 MCA staff completed cross-departmental Autism Awareness training. The A List provided professional development opportunities for Autistic artists and event volunteers.

Resources were created for participants, including visual stories for wayfinding, a sensory map for key Museum areas, and large-print activity instructions.

Visitors had the opportunity to meet Deaf Artist Angie Goto as she created a mural. The entire event was free, removing socio-economic barriers to participation.

Highly Commended

Gosford Regional Gallery
Dandhi – Grounded First Nations Residency, Exhibition and Banner Project
The Aboriginal pedagogy framework ‘8 Ways of Learning’ was engaged to ensure all aspects of students’ learning needs were supported. Additionally, Ethan-James Kotiau and elder Chris Moore were consulted during the development of the First Nations Artmaking and Cultural Workshops.

Embedded inclusive approaches to learning specifically encompassed: narrative-driven learning, non-verbal communication, engagement of sensory methods (sand), utilising symbols/images, story sharing, place-based education, and centring connectedness to community.

Volunteer Achievement Award

Winner

Barbara Foster
Cooma Cottage
Barbara Foster, long-term lead volunteer and property manager at Cooma Cottage, has been central to the site’s renewal and success. She coordinated volunteers and conservation works during a major upgrade, ensuring positive outcomes for all involved. Barbara developed successful programs, including the Hume & Hovell Anniversary event, biannual High Teas, and a new school’s program, doubling visitation and increasing revenue. Her leadership, innovation and commitment have strengthened Cooma Cottage’s operations, community connections, and long-term sustainability.

The ACHAA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to NSW Aboriginal Culture, Heritage and Arts

Gary Williams
Gary is a Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung man who grew up in Nambucca Heads, his mother’s country, surrounded by family, including Elders Tiger Buchanan and Uncle Charles Moran.

In 1965, Gary joined his University of Sydney classmate, Charles Perkins, in organising the student activist movement Student Action for Aborigines, which led the Freedom Ride across NSW. The two were the only two

Aboriginal students at the institution at the time. He was all set to join the Freedom Ride but was called and needed back home. Despite not being able to ride along on the bus, he made history all the same by sitting down at a racially segregated pub in Bowraville. Gary spent many of the following years rallying against racial discrimination, lobbying at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, campaigning during the 1967 referendum, and becoming a founding member of the Aboriginal Legal Service.

Gary returned home to Nambucca Heads in 1990, and in 1997, he attended the first Gumbaynggirr language classes at Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative. At Muurrbay, he has spent decades working on language reclamation. When Muurrbay expanded into a Regional Language Centre in 2004, he became a regional language researcher, using his cultural knowledge and linguistics skills to research the Gumbaynggirr language as well as Bundjalung, his father’s language.

Gary’s research alongside Elders and peers led to valuable records of Gumbaynggirr Elders being unearthed. He has become a pillar of Muurrbay’s support of NSW coastal languages, setting up language organisations, sometimes delivering their first classes, and supporting the creation of multiple language dictionaries. Gary has supported the revival of seven languages.

Through all he has done, Gary has been present and committed, always ready to walk alongside his community.

 The ACHAA Award for Excellence by an Aboriginal Curator

Marika Duczynski
Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney
Mungari: Fishing, Resistance, Return
As Senior Curator of Indigenous Heritage, Marika Duczynski led Mungari: Fishing, Resistance, Return, a community-driven exhibition celebrating the return of four Gweagal spears taken from Gamay in 1770 and held in the UK for 254 years. Developed with the Gujaga Foundation, La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, and a curatorium of Gweagal descendants, Marika facilitated a deeply collaborative process through workshops, on Country visits, and co-design. Working closely with First Nations architect Jack Gillmer, she embedded Dharawal language, knowledge, and cultural safety throughout the exhibition. Under her direction, Mungari exemplified best practice in community-led curation, foregrounding cultural authority and demonstrating how museums can respectfully support truth-telling.

The IMAGinE Awards are an initiative of Museums & Galleries of NSW, developed with support from the Australian Museums and Galleries Association NSW and Regional and Public Galleries of NSW. 

The 2025 IMAGinE Awards are made possible through the generous support of our sponsors, including International Conservation Services as the Major Sponsor of the Awards. This year, we welcome Verge Gallery, University of Sydney, as our venue partner.