Woods Street Youth Art Prize winners announced

Published on 21 September 2026

The winners of the 2026 Woods Street Youth Art Prize have been announced, as the exhibition came to an end at the weekend.

More than 450 people visited the exhibition at Laverton's Woods Street Arts Space in celebration of young artists from Hobsons Bay and across Melbourne’s west.

The 2026 award winners were:

Open category winner
- Maya Yoon Kirk – Canopy
Open category runner up
- Lily Attard – Trinity
Hobsons Bay Artist Award
- Oliver Cheung - The Awakening
Artist Encouragement Award for artists over the age of 20
- William Kendall - Life With Death
Artist Encouragement Award for artists under the age of 20
- Shikha Manoj Kumar - A Dance of Waves
Mayoral Award
- Caitlyn Phan - Nơi Hoa Sen Nở – Where the Lotus Blooms
People’s Choice Award
- Isobel Heddles - Jaws

Honourable mentions went to Dennis Pham for Flock Carousel, Ada Whiteway for Angel Of Hearts and Masengo for My Liberation Notes.

Several artists had work selected to be part of other exhibitions that are produced by Council, including at the Airtime outdoor flags at the Queen Street skate park in Altona Meadows and coming to the Hobsons Bay Civic Centre in November 2026.

The closing event featured an inspiring and thought-provoking Q&A with exhibiting artists Maya Yoon Kirk, Charli English and Justin Enrico Legaspi, ⁠facilitated by 2024 Woods Street Art Prize alum D’Arcy Rouillard.

The Woods Street Youth Art Prize is produced by Hobsons Bay City Council as a biennial event as part of its Creative City arts and culture program.

The Woods Street Youth Art Prize exhibition opened on Friday 4 September and closed on Saturday 19 September.