Sunshine Coast Wootha Prize: call for entries
Above: The view from the raised Wootha Prize display area at last year's Maleny Wood Expo with Simon Begg's Dovetail German ring turning, made from camphor laurel in the foreground.’ Photo: Linda Nathan
Unique amongst awards for Australian woodworkers is the Sunshine Coast Wootha Prize, the‘jewel in the crown’ of the annual Maleny Wood Expo which takes place in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Wootha is a local Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi name for red cedar, once plentiful in the subtropical rainforests which once dominated Maleny, the Blackall Ranges and much of the east coast of Australia.
In 2024, the 14th iteration of this competition will once again result in a three-day exhibition. Entries for the Wootha Prize are capped at 30, although there is no limit on the number of Tiny Treasure category entries which may be accept for display.
2022 Wootha Prize category winners, left to right: Furniture winner, Stella, Garan Hale; Tiny Treasures, Storm Boy, Hape Kiddle; Sculpture, Lily Light, Robert Howard
Prize-wise the exhibition is well supported with a $10,000 cash award for the overall winner, and $2,500 on offer for each of the other category winners. In 2024 there is no set theme for entries, however there are conditions to be met. There are three categories: Furniture, Sculpture and Tiny Treasures.
Entries must meet the Maleny Wood Expo timber policy which stipulates the use of sustainably harvested, or recycled, or weed timbers, and may incorporate other media. Applicants can submit one entry per category with an entry fee of $35 payable.
Entry submissions must include a detailed description of the work being entered with work-in-progress drawings or photos. Entrants need to give ‘a precise expression’ of the idea and type of sustainable wood used and explain what the work will look like.
Entries also need to be freestanding and fit within a one metre square footprint with a two metre maximum height. Tiny Treasures pieces must not exceed 130 x 130 x 110mm.
Applications are now open and close March 22, 2024.
Read about last year's overall winner Derek Calderwood here
Below: Overall Sunshine Coast Wootha Prize winner 2022, Lautissimum, Derek Calderwood. Photo: Linda Nathan
