The winners of the INSPIRE Art Competition have been announced, with Milo Nilsen (Year 12) and Hannah Claudianos (Year 11) claiming the two major awards.
Milo’s painting entry, titled Digital Painting Study of Sean Cheetham, was named the Overall Winner by a judging panel, which comprised two staff members and three representatives from the Canberra art community.
After all entries were displayed at MacKillop Day on 11 September, students chose Hannah’s drawing, A Moment’s Reflection, as the People’s Choice Winner.
Both pieces were exhibited alongside the other category winners and highly commended entries in the INSPIRE Exhibition, which is currently on display in the Phoenix Gallery at the St Peter’s Campus. The exhibition was officially opened by the College Principal, Mrs Jacqui Heffernan, on Monday 19 October.
The annual competition attracted a huge number of entries from Years 7-12 and several members of staff across five different categories.
Congratulations to everyone who entered the INSPIRE Art Competition this year. The category winners are listed below:
INSPIRE Art Competition Winners 2026
Overall Winner: Milo Nilsen, Year 12 - Digital Painting Study of Sean Cheetham
People's Choice Winner: Hannah Claudianos, Year 11 - A Moment’s Reflection
Digital: Ellie Gasparovski, Year 9 – The Man In The White Suit
Photography: Matthew Hoskinson, Year 11 – Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies
Sculpture/Mixed Media: Willow Kildey, Year 11 – What’s Kraken?
Painting: Emily Hartcher, Year 11 – She Who Was Carved
Drawing: Hannah Claudianos, Year 11 - A Moment’s Reflection
The following students also received Highly Commended for their artworks:
Year 7: Audrey Eldridge, Vivienne Katindoy, Madeleine Klomp, Millie Kook
Year 8: Emily Dwyer, Nataleigh Howell
Year 9: Ellie Gasparovski
Year 10: Isaac Brown, Maggie Kane, Remi Sidney, Lucille Sparks
Year 11: Lara Bryan, Zarrie Faustino, Sienna Radulovich, Ripudaman Singh
Year 12: Sam Bailie, Katya Mangos, Milo Nilsen, Elise Warner
The winning entries, and a selection of other works from the competition, can be found below.
