We are delighted to congratulate Clare Belfrage, esteemed SABBIA artist, on being selected as a finalist in the 2026 Alice Prize.
The Alice Prize is a national, acquisitive contemporary art prize open to artists from every corner of Australia and across all media. Its purpose is both celebratory and community focused: to bring outstanding new work to Central Australia, enabling local audiences—artists, students, families and visitors—to encounter and reflect on the ideas shaping Australian culture today. Each acquisition strengthens the region’s significant public collection, ensuring high calibre works remain accessible to the Central Australian community.
Clare’s Canopy, Layered Life V continues her long standing exploration of the rhythms, structures, and quiet complexities of the natural world. Through blown glass with cane drawing, sandblasting, and pumice polishing, Clare creates layered surfaces that suggest the interwoven systems of growth, shelter and interdependence found in nature—“layered lives” existing in harmony. The series evokes the protective and nurturing qualities of canopy ecosystems, where fragility and resilience coexist within a larger living network. The exhibition will be held at the Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs from 28 March to 8 June 2026 with the winner announced on the opening launch on 27 March.