SAM announces artists of The Urbach 2026
19 February 2026
Shepparton Art Museum announces the 2026 winner and runners-up of The Urbach.
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is pleased to announce the 2026 winner and runners-up of The Theodore Urbach Landscape Prize and Studio Scholarship (“The Urbach”), a $10,000 prize and scholarship encouraging explorations in the field Australian landscape painting. The 2026 Urbach prize and scholarship has been awarded to Melbourne-based artist Kate Lewis, with local artists Philip Hickingbotham and Creagh Manning named as the runners-up.
A runner-up to The Urbach last year, Kate Lewis re-applied this year to great success. Graduating with a Masters in Contemporary Art from the VCA in 2022, Lewis’ expressive oil painting and process-driven use of recycled and found materials underpins her practice. Lewis explores the tension that exists between the contradictions of our landscape—the vast beauty and the deep loss—whilst hoping to reveal some of her own sentiments of love, loss, and foreignness to a place.
Lewis says of the opportunity:
“I am so thrilled and proud to be the winner of the Urbach prize and scholarship for 2026. I cannot wait to fully immerse myself into the impressive SAM community and to be painting in collaboration with the surrounding grass and wetlands as our seasons change.”
The 2026 finalists were selected from fourteen applications to the prestigious award. Five artists from the twenty-three were shortlisted, going on to present their applications to an expert judging panel. The 2025 judging panel, chaired by SAM Artistic Director Danny Lacy, consisted of Dr. Drew Pettifer (Associate Professor RMIT and SAM Ltd Board member), Dr. Suzanne Fraser (Coordinator, Centre of Visual Art, Faculty of Fine Art and Music, University of Melbourne), and Blair French (CEO, Murray Art Museum Albury [MAMA]).
Of the applicants, Blair French says:
“The standard of work being undertaken by all the shortlisted artists for the Urbach was very impressive. The Urbach highlights the continuing significance of landscape painting as a contemporary practice connected to both history and evolving relationships to place and Country. I look forward to following the work of all the shortlisted artists over coming years.”
Caroline Esbenshade, SAM Curator – Community and coordinator of The Urbach, says:
“Coming into our third year, the program is really establishing itself. It was wonderful to have several prior applicants re-submit this year to great success, and it’s been very gratifying to see the number of competitive, local artists in the application pool. I’m looking forward to working with Kate Lewis; her practice has been growing rapidly the last few years, and I’m eager to see how she responds to our landscape, and how she will render our wetlands in her painting practice.”
As the winner of The Urbach, Lewis will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a scholarship stipend of $5,000 to support her as she undertakes the three-month scholarship at SAM’s onsite artist studio from 3 March to 3 June 2026. Lewis will be focusing on responding to the wetland ecosystems, with a particular lens on Gemmill Swamp and Reedy Swamp, to explore the distinctive light, flora, and rhythms of these ecosystems.
As runners-up, Philip Hickingbotham and Creagh Manning will each be awarded a $2,500 cash prize in recognition of their time and commitment in developing their applications.
ENDS
About SAM:
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is located on Yorta Yorta Country, Shepparton, Victoria.
Serving as a dynamic cultural and community hub for the Greater Shepparton region, SAM is one of Australia’s leading regional art museums and the newest purpose-built collecting institution in regional Victoria. SAM houses one of the nation’s most significant collections of Australian ceramics and regional holdings of South Eastern Indigenous Art, and presents an inclusive museum experience that inspires creativity, forges meaningful connections, and celebrates the unique stories of our region.
Through its programs, events, collection, and temporary exhibitions, SAM creates opportunities for artists and creatives to engage audiences with contemporary ideas and issues, allowing the stories of our country’s ancient cultures and contemporary multicultural Australia to be discovered and exchanged.
Media enquiries, please contact Mikela Guseli, SAM Communications Officer.
p: (03) 4804 5009 e: mguseli@sheppartonartmuseum.com.au
SAM announces highlights of 2026 artistic program
6 February 2026
Shepparton Art Museum announces 2026 exhibition program, including major First Nations exhibition and two national blockbusters.
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is pleased to announce its annual exhibition program for 2026, highlights of which include an upcoming exhibition interweaving recent works from Yorta Yorta artists with major First Nations artworks from the SAM Collection, followed by the recently announced Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, showing at SAM as an Australian exclusive, and the Victorian exclusive showing of Archibald Prize 2026 from Art Gallery New South Wales.
Opening to the public on 14 February 2026, Nyini Woka (My Place) is a new exhibition from Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) showcasing artworks from the Carrillo and Ziyin Gantner Collection of Australian Indigenous Art, an ongoing major cultural gift to the SAM Collection, alongside recent artworks from contemporary Yorta Yorta artists.
Co-curated by Belinda Briggs, SAM Curator – Indigenous, and Chloe Jones, Kaiela Arts curator and gallery manager, the exhibition will explore the dialogue that emerges between broader First Nations perspectives and Yorta Yorta stories of woka (Country) and nanyak (ways of being, seeing, doing, knowing), affirming living culture and community voices and revealing threads of belonging, resistance, humour, memory and strength, while extending an invitation to visitors to consider what it means to be here, today, on Yorta Yorta Country and beyond. Exhibiting artists include Albert Namatjira (Western Arrernte), Vincent Namatjira OAM (Western Arrernte), Lyn Thorpe (Yorta Yorta), Cynthia Hardie (Yorta Yorta), and Danie Mellor (Ndgadjon, Mamu), with works spanning form and material, from bark paintings to photography and ceramics.
Chloe Jones, curator, says of the exhibition:
“It’s an honour to bring First Nations works from the Carrillo and Ziyin Gantner Collection of Australian Indigenous Art into conversation with local Yorta Yorta voices on Yorta Yorta Woka. Nyini Woka (My Place) gathers many stories from across the continent and offers a moment to slow down, to think about where we belong, what grounds us, and how place shapes who we are. The exhibition invites everyone to recognise themselves within these stories and to reflect on how we care for place, for one another, and for the responsibilities we carry together. It asks a simple but timeless question: what does it mean to find your place, and to hold it with others?”
Nyini Woka (My Place) will be on display in SAM’s Lin Onus Gallery from Saturday 14 February, with free entry.
Audiences can also look forward to a host of new exhibitions and site-specific installations throughout the year. Across SAM’s Level 2, intricately coiled ceramic vessels from Kialla-based artist Aleisa Miksad and a selection of abstract 2D and 3D works from artist Angela Brennan will be showcased, exemplifying the dynamism of the ceramic medium. On the art museum’s Level 4 Furphy Family Art Wall, artist Raafat Ishak will present a geometric wall painting that responds to the site’s architecture and local history. In an exciting new project bringing together art and sport, artist Tully Moore will transform the Ryan Family Children’s Gallery into a colourful World Cup-inspired activity centre, celebrating Shepparton’s rich multicultural soccer heritage in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup 2026.
In the Hugh D.T Williamson Community Gallery, 2026 SAM Selects artist Fran O’Neill will present her exhibition On the Move, featuring a selection of large-scale paintings, followed later in the year by annual community group exhibition SAM Open.
Danny Lacy, SAM Artistic Director, says of the artistic program:
“In 2026, SAM will be a destination for all seeking the vibrant arts and culture that Australia prides itself on, connecting people to ancient cultures, far-off lands, and historical epochs. Throughout the year, visitors will experience moments of awe, personal significance, and creative innovation across all five levels of the art museum. Beginning with deep reflections on community, Country, and the preservation of ancient knowledge, Nyini Woka affords us a timely moment to centre First Nations artists and celebrate the significant gift of the Carrillo and Ziyin Gantner Collection of Australian Indigenous Art. Mid-year, Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso presents a unique opportunity to encounter the greats of Modern art that some have waited a lifetime to see, followed by the prestigious Archibald Prize 2026, which showcases some of the most significant contemporary artists and figures of today.”
ENDS
Image: Installation view of Julie Dowling, Nana Everlasting, 2001, Shepparton Art Museum, 2023. Photo: Shepparton Art Museum
About SAM:
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is located on Yorta Yorta Country, Shepparton, Victoria.
Serving as a dynamic cultural and community hub for the Greater Shepparton region, SAM is one of Australia’s leading regional art museums and the newest purpose-built collecting institution in regional Victoria. SAM houses one of the nation’s most significant collections of Australian ceramics and regional holdings of South Eastern Indigenous Art, and presents an inclusive museum experience that inspires creativity, forges meaningful connections, and celebrates the unique stories of our region.
Through its programs, events, collection, and temporary exhibitions, SAM creates opportunities for artists and creatives to engage audiences with contemporary ideas and issues, allowing the stories of our country’s ancient cultures and contemporary multicultural Australia to be discovered and exchanged.
Media enquiries, please contact Mikela Guseli, SAM Communications Officer.
p: (03) 4804 5009 e: mguseli@sheppartonartmuseum.com.au