CANBERRA glass artist Annette Blair is the winner of the $10,000 of the Vicki Torr International Year of Glass Prize.

Blair’s winning piece, “A Quiet Afternoon in May”, 2022, had already been displayed in Blair’s solo exhibition at Canberra Glassworks, “Quietly Spoken”, the result of a mentoring program undertaken by Blair at the Glassworks in 2020-22.

The one-off prize honours the spirit of glass artist Vicki Torr’s legacy on the 30th anniversary of her death and coincides with the UN International Year of Glass.

Aimee Frodsham, artistic director of the Canberra Glassworks, says: “This piece shows Annette Blair’s technical brilliance in hot glass sculpting, surface treatment, scale, and conceptual rigour.”

Later this year, Blair, who also won the $1000 People’s Choice Prize, will travel to the US to work at the Pilchuck Glass School and Pittsburgh Glass Centre.