MERA Award Of Excellence In Fine Arts And Fine Crafts

MERA (McDonalds Corners/Elphin Recreation and Arts) recognizes that artists are essential to the vitality and well-being of the communities in which they live and work.

The MERA Award of Excellence in Fine Arts and Fine Crafts was created in 2008 to provide a vehicle to celebrate local artists practicing in the fields of fine arts and crafts who demonstrate excellence in their work.

The MERA award is given on the basis of a body of work every one to two years. The next award will be made in the spring of 2023.

To apply for the MERA Award of Excellence in Fine Arts and Fine Crafts click here to download the application and guidelines in PDF format

or click here to download the application and guidelines in .docx Word format.

The Award includes a cash prize usually of $1,000. Additionally, each Award recipient and the runners up are given the opportunity to publicly present their artwork at the time the prize is awarded.


This prize is funded in large part by the generous donation to the Perth and District Community Foundation (PDCF) made by Chris and David Dodge who conceived the Award.

The Award is administrated and given by MERA.

Past Recipients of the MERA Award of Excellence in Fine Arts and Fine Crafts
  • 2009 – Ellen Good – Hand Weaving & Dyeing
  • 2011 – Anne Chambers – Ceramics
  • 2013 – Susie Osler – Ceramics
  • 2015 – Dean Spense – Woodcraft
  • 2017 – Bridget O’Flaherty – Fibre Artist
  • 2019 – Rosemary Kotze – Fibre Artist
  • 2021 – Fred Fowler- Painter – Click here for details
  • 2023 – Heidi Earnshaw – Furniture Designer and Elise Abrams-Ogg – Artist