Every union member in Australia has passions and dreams beyond the scope of our daily work. 

The Trades Hall annual arts prize is a celebration of artistic expression by ordinary working people - people who may not have had formal training, who may not have ever created art before!

The union movement is fundamentally about improving the lives of working people, which means winning higher wages and better conditions, sure! But also making sure every worker in Australia can access the stuff that makes life worthwhile - creativity, beauty, art, expression!

"Give us bread, but give us roses too!"

Even if you have never held a paintbrush, even if you've never written a poem or put thread to needle, we invite you to create a submission for the Trades Hall Arts Prize 2025. 

The theme of this year's prize is Create Against the Machine.

From the “Saboteurs” jamming up machinery with wooden clogs and “Luddites” opposing mechanisation of skilled work, to “mouse jiggers” today, we invite artists to explore themes of worker surveillance, control, automation and resistance.

Artists (that's you!) are invited to create work in any medium exploring themes of workplace-surveillance, technological change and worker resistance, throughout history and today. 

All artists - professional, emerging and beginner - are invited to create work and submit it to the prize. 10 artworks will be selected to be exhibited in Paddy’s Gallery as part on Melbourne Fringe Festival in October and into November.

The winning artist will take home $5,000 and the piece will become part of Trades Hall’s permanent collection.

Plus, you'll have put artwork out into the world - check that off your bucket list!

If you'd like to learn more about the Art Prize click here, or contact Art Director Mitzi McKenzie-King to have a chat. 

Entries close 1 September.