Canberra Potters Members Exhibition 2025
6 – 30 November 2025 | Opening Event 6pm Thursday 6 November.
The Canberra Potters annual Members’ Exhibition is a highlight of our exhibition program and features some of the best work created by our members during the last twelve months.
The exhibition is Canberra’s major ceramic exhibition of the year and in 2025 features over 140 works by 65 artists.
The exhibition presents a selection of works created by some of our 700+ members over the past 12 months, demonstrating trends in contemporary ceramics and the inexhaustible breadth of ceramic arts practice. The works featured use different clays, and a wide variety of making, decorating and firing techniques to create works that are unique in form, texture and colour.
A number of prizes are awarded each year, made possible through the support of the Canberra Potters Society Board and the generosity of exhibition sponsors including Walker Ceramics, Keane Ceramics, Northcote Pottery Supplies, The Australian Ceramics Association, Craft & Design Canberra and The Curatoreum.
2025 Award Winners
THE DOUG ALEXANDER MEMORIAL AWARD
Best overall exhibit
Winner: Malcolm Cooke, Jar, 2025 (#51)
WALKER CERAMICS BRIAN PRIVETT AWARD FOR SURFACE DECORATION
Winner: Cathy Franzi, After the Fires, 2025 (#17)
CESCO AWARD FOR WHEELTHROWING
Winner: Jacky Lo, Woodfired Tea cup with Haku-Oshi, 2025 (#86)
NORTHCOTE SCULPTURE AWARD
Winner: Robyn Campbell, First Light #2, 2025 (#93)
KEANE CERAMICS AWARD FOR HANDBUILDING
Winner: Julie Pennington, Enclose / Shigaraki, 2024 (#52)
KEANE CERAMICS EMERGING ARTIST AWARD
Winner: Isabel Chen, Bottle forms: a study in ash, 2025 (#46)
THE AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS ASSOCIATION MERIT AWARD
Winner: Abbey Jamieson, Wander Series, 2025 (#67)
THE AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS ASSOCIATION EMERGING ARTIST MERIT AWARD
Winner: Edmund Lim, Darkside of the Moon Jar, 2025 (#5)
INAUGRAL JANET DEBOOS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD
Winner: Jacqui Keogh (#35)
Highly Commended:
Michelle Watson (#3 and #4)
Gabrielle Powell (#10)
Isabel Chen (#46)
Lea Durie (#9)
CRAFT + DESIGN EMERGING CONTEMPORARIES AWARD
Winners:
Sarah Brown, Electric Trees, 2025 (#59)
Ingrid McGrouther, Todd the tod, 2025 (#34)
Jenn Morton, Ash glazed flute, 2025 (#70)
Tessa Hoser, Remembering 11th November, 2025 (#50)
Thankyou to all of our members who submitted their work this year, the quality was outstanding!
2025 GUEST JUDGE – VICKI GRIMA OAM
Vicki Grima OAM is an artist and highly respected ceramic arts professional. Through her artwork in media including clay, paint, collage, photography and textiles, she explores form, colour, pattern and texture. For many decades she was a teacher of adults and children sharing her love of making and living a creative life. From 2006-2023, Vicki was the Executive Officer of The Australian Ceramics Association and Editor of The Journal of Australian Ceramics, building and connecting the national ceramics community in Australia and beyond. She is now Director of Foster A Potter, a DGR charity organisation which supports and funds ceramics students to learn and work alongside experienced ceramicists and potters in a studio setting.
HISTORY OF THE DOUG ALEXANDER MEMORIAL AWARD
Each year since 1990, Canberra Potters have awarded the Doug Alexander Award to an exceptional potter in our annual Members’ Exhibition. The award is presented in celebration and honour of Doug Alexander who was the resident potter at Cuppacumbalong Arts and Craft Centre at Tharwa, from 1976 to 1981 – brought short by his untimely death.
Doug Alexander made a huge contribution to the development of functional ceramics in Australia and, when he moved to Canberra, Doug Alexander’s experience and knowledge gave a fillip to pottery in Canberra. The non-acquisitive $5000 cash prize is proudly sponsored by Canberra Potters.
Information retrieved from Doug Alexander – A Retrospective.
Image: “Shadow Fall No.2” by Robyn Campbell, winner of the 2022 Doug Alexander Award.
Sponsors & Partners
Thankyou to our generous sponsors and partners for their support of this exhibition:
The Australian Ceramics Association
