Orange based painter Joy Engelman has been been awarded in the 7th International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci curated by Francessco Saverio Russo and Salvatore Russo in Milan.
The annual prize was presented at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, Italy, on 7 June 2025. The prize focused on recognizing visual artists.
Joy gave us the background on the award – and her advice to other visual artists:
So what, why and when….
What: l first went to Florence in 2007 with the best art that l could make at that time and 40 judges from around the world gave me a prize, 5th place for paintings. It was a huge effort and event that took every ounce of courage l could muster.
But it put my art in front of international judges and some have followed me over the years since unbeknown to me except for the occasional invitation to exhibit.
Why: When the Covid lockdowns came, being over 70, l was left as were many artists in limbo. Galleries closed or reduced their shows, studios were off limits often, travel was a no go… so sitting at home contemplating my naval, l had time to consider the overseas invites as they came in. I could still participate in art it seemed so l did.
I packed up artworks and sent them off to Canada, Mexico, Italy and watched online as lockdowns here continued.
When: A list is in my website which l maintained as life unfolded.
Then l received an invite from the Italian art critic and curator, Salvatore Russo asking me to accept an award as he had been following my arts journey… so yes, l accepted it … 🙂
Then Roslynn Haynes released her book on desert painters and an invitation to represent Australia in Sth Korea etc …. and l caught covid which left me debilitated… but l still entered Korea and win again! Yay!
So here l am at 75 years old, a regional senior female artist, hardly the darling of the Australian art scene but loved overseas…
My advice: Get your art out of Oz and into the wide world! Its fun and rewarding…. and the awards are beautiful and ‘real’… there are so many international awards now and they are in insta, just go for it!! The international art world is a huge supportive network that loves Australian artists!