Canberra painter Kate Stevens is one of the 36 finalists in the $20,000 Gallipoli Art Prize.

Stevens’ work, Witness, is a veiled diptych depicting Dusty Miller, whistleblower and former SAS medic who served with Australia’s Special Forces in Afghanistan and who gave testimony to the IGADF Afghanistan war crimes inquiry.

In her accompanying artist statement she says: “Dusty and the other veterans who spoke at great personal cost about what they witnessed have done the nation a great service; showing courage and loyalty in upholding the qualities which Australians could and should aspire to.”

Stevens’ suite of oil paintings, Occupied, at Canberra Contemporary Art Space Manuka last year, was based on news photographs of the bombing of Gaza, and won her a place in our top five arts picks for 2023.

She first came to notice when, as a new graduate of the ANU School of Art, she won an ASOC scholarship that took her to Japan, a journey that resulted in an exhibition and residency at Gorman Arts Centre and set her on the path to success.

The Gallipoli Art Prize will be awarded to the artist who best depicts the spirit of the Gallipoli Campaign as expressed in the Club’s creed. Competitors must either have been born in Australia, NZ or Turkey or hold Australian, NZ or Turkish citizenship. Judges for this year’s prize are Jane Watters, Barry Pearce, Elizabeth Fortescue and John Robertson.

The first winner of the prize in 2006 was Canberra’s Margaret Hadfield, also shortlisted this year for her work, Comradeship and Grief.

Former Canberran Luke Cornish’s entry,  The Pity of War, referencing the universality of maternal grief, is on the short list, too.

The winner will be announced on April 17 in Sydney in the lead up to Anzac Day.

All 2024 Gallipoli Art Prize finalist works may be viewed at gallipoliartprize.org.au