If you're reading South West Life as the calendar flips over to 2005, then you've only 14 days left to enter the Survey. Entries close on Friday 14th January for the annual showcase of visual arts, craft and design practice, open to all artists and artisans who are bona fide residents of the South West on Friday January 14th. So move fast if you want a taste of glory and a share of the biggest prize pool the Survey has ever boasted. To date the Survey has secured $15,000 of prize money, including two $4,000 acquisitive awards sponsored by South West Personnel and the City of Bunbury Art Collection Committee. This is growing
evidence of the level of support and recognition the business community is giving to the visual arts as a major feature of our South West lifestyle and economy.

As it evolves year by year, the exhibition always incites a degree of controversy and comment, but this keeps the event alive. In 2004 the Survey raised a few eyebrows when naming rights were given to the South Western Times, in recognition of the level of financial and media support the Galleries receive from South West Printing and Publishing.

In essence the Survey varies from year to year for a number of simple reasons. Different artists choose to enter, the selection process inevitably involves a level of subjectivity and the choice of prize winners often creates a flurry of excitement and criticism.

The flavour of the 2005 exhibition is already taking shape. Commitments have been received from a number of the region's leading artists and past prize winners, many of whom are now represented in major public and corporate collections. Two well respected West Australian artists, Angela Stewart and Galliano Fardin, have been invited to make the selection and this alone will give the exhibition a different 'feel' from 2004.

It's grand to claim the South Western Times Survey represents the depth of talent in contemporary visual arts practice from across the region. It gives emerging and arising artists an opportunity to exhibit alongside some of the South West's established artists. So submit your entry and celebrate your success or commiserate with friends when the prize winners are announced on at the Survey launch on Friday 11th February. And if that doesn't get you in the studio, come to the party anyway and listen to some great music from the James Morrsion Scholarship Winners Band.

Entry forms are available in hard copy from Bunbury Regional Art Galleries, 64 Wittenoom Street or from South West Life (link below). Please read the conditions of entry and submit the form together with an entry fee of $15 per work by Friday 14th January . All works must be delivered to the Galleries on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th January, between 10am and 4pm.

Increased prize money means increased sponsorship, so it's important to thank confirmed sponsors: the South Western Times, South West Personnel, the City of Bunbury Art Collection Committee, GWN, Worsley Alumina Pty Ltd and of course South West Life.