What are the Members’ Encouragement Awards [MEAs]

Our MEAs are presented monthly in most months of the year (except January & December) and serve as an opportunity for members to submit artworks for voting, by their peers in the Society.

The MEAs are run by our MEA Coordinator, Michelle Hendrie.

We encourage all our members to enter – we really want to acknowledge your artwork and be part of your art journey.  Even if you think your artwork is not as good as everyone else’s – it doesn’t matter. We are all here to learn and be encouraged by our fellow artists. Artwork should be ‘original’ (not a copy of another painting)  and predominantly in your own hand (for those of you who are submitting work done in a class or workshop environment).

This is what our Society is all about – to give advice and encouragement to artists to develop their pastel painting skills and hopefully the opportunity to learn from seeing others’ work and, of course, from the demonstrations and talks given at our monthly meetings.

All feedback, questions and suggestions are welcome and can be sent to the MEA Coordinator Michelle at

mea@vicpastel.com.au. 

MEA Winners in Category 2025

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Our MEAs Sponsor – Atelier Art Supplies

We very much appreciate the generous support of Atelier Art Supplies who are the Sponsors of our Members’ Encouragement Awards. We encourage our members to visit them and support their business… let them know you are a member of the PSVA when purchasing goods from their store.

They are located at 8/199 Champion Road, Williamstown, VIC 3016. Phone 03 9397 4928. Their online store can be found on their website at https://shop.atelierart.com.au/

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For the 2026 MEAs, there is only one change from last year.

The Ming Mackay Award from our Annual Exhibition and any Peoples’ Choice Award from other art exhibitions, are now considered ‘Major Awards’. So please keep this in mind when selecting the Category you enter into for the 2026 year.

Drop Michelle our MEA Coordinator, an email at mea@vicpastel.com.au any time and she will assist either via email or can give you a call to talk through any queries you may have.

There are some Worked Examples at right, to help you understand the Category for you to enter your work in, for the 2026 year.

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Questions

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Which Category am I in?

There are six (6) Categories for entering and voting by financial members of the PSVA : Emerging, Developing, Intermediate, Established, Advanced and Expert.

1. Emerging 

   0-2 years experience in any medium (for those artists who have never won any award anywhere and/or who are new to the medium). You will move to Developing  Category when you have three (3) years experience or have been the yearly winner of the Emerging Category once.

2. Developing

   3-5 years experience in Soft Pastels
   OR
   3 years or more experience in any medium and less than 3 years experience in Soft Pastels
   OR
   Have been the yearly winner in the previous Category once

3. Intermediate
   

   6-10 years experience in Soft Pastels
   OR
   Have been the yearly winner in the previous Category once or come second twice (not necessarily in consecutive years)

4. Established

   11-15 years experience in Soft Pastels
   OR
   Have won at least two minor awards but less than two major awards in soft pastels
   OR
   Have been either the yearly winner in the previous Category twice, come second in the previous Category twice, or come first once and second once (not necessarily in consecutive years)

5. Advanced

   More than 15 years experience in Soft Pastels
   OR
   Have won at least two major awards in Soft Pastels
   OR
   Have been the yearly winner in the previous Category twice (not necessarily in consecutive years)

6. Expert

   Artists who teach, demonstrate or earn their living from showing and selling Soft Pastel works
   OR
   Signature Members and Master Pastellists
   OR
   Have have been the yearly winner in the previous Category twice (not necessarily in consecutive years)

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How do I vote in the MEAs

After the date that the entries for paintings closes and before the next monthly meeting an email from info@vicpastel.com.au with MEAs [month] [year] Time to Vote | sponsored by Atelier Art Supplies in the subject line. This email displays all paintings entered & will prompt you to vote in the MEAs.

You are allowed one vote in each category per month per member.

Around the end of the month voting entries close.

The exact dates for each month are provided in the Time to Vote email.

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How are the awards decided?

Points are accumulated every month for each entry.  Every painting entered is automatically awarded one point.

The painting that has the most votes for each category for the month is awarded an additional two points for the month for a total of three points.

The painting that has the second most votes for each category for the month is awards an additional point for the month for a total of two points.

These points are tallied over the year with first and second awarded in each category.

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How do I know if I have won?

Monthly winners of the first and second place in each Category will be announced:

• at the next monthly meeting, the winners will be announced on the night
• in the PSVA Facebook Group and on our official Facebook Page
• in our VicPastel Magazine which is posted out to members quarterly
• in the next month’s MEA Competition |[month] [year] | sponsored by Atelier Art Supplies email

Certificates will be emailed to the winners of first and second place.

Yearly first and second place winners in each category will be presented at the final PSVA meeting for the year in December. We also list our annual winners on this webpage.

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Guidelines for submitting paintings

1. Each member is allowed to enter one painting only per month.
2. Members are asked to submit their painting and a CV pic of themselves with their painting by clicking on the big blue button labelled Click to email your painting in the Time to enter the MEAs email, or email directly to mea@vicpastel.com.au
3. Email both via the big blue button labelled Click to email your painting when you receive the MEA Competition |[month] [year] | sponsored by Atelier Art Supplies for the month.
   Two photos :
   1. a hi-resolution image of your painting (preferably prior to framing), 800KB to 2MB is ideal (definitely less than 10MB).
   2. an image of you next to your painting (your painting can be framed for this 2nd image). If you don’t have a photo of you with your painting, we are happy to accept just a photo of your painting. But we love to promote our members, so please consider taking this second pic.
      Email both to mea@vicpastel.com.au when you receive the MEA Competition |[month] [year] | sponsored by Atelier Art Supplies for the month.
   3. Please submit your photographs in .JPEG or .JPG format if possible.
   4. For the second photograph we suggest you asking a member of your household to take the photo for you, or use the ‘time-lapse’ function on your camera, tablet or smartphone, or take a ‘selfie’.  If you find this too onerous, we will use the image of your painting that you have entered in the competition.

4. The upper size limit for the photo of your painting is 10MB. If your photo is too large, the MEA Coordinator will digitally reduce the size of your photograph.
5. If you provide us with a photo that has too small a resolution, it will look ‘small’ in our Call to Vote email to members and disadvantage your entry. If this happens, our MEA Coordinator will likely email you for a better pic.
6. If your painting has been signed by the time you take your photo, please stick a bit of paper over the signature or digitally manipulate the photo so that the signature is obscured.  If the photo of your painting is submitted with a signature, the MEA Coordinator will digitally remove it before posting up for voting on by members. All paintings must be anonymous to ensure fairness in the competition.
7. Please provide the Title of your painting when you email us the pic of your painting. This is so we can ‘attribute’ your painting correctly if it is used after that month’s competition in our VicPastel Magazine, our website or in Social Media.
8. If you need help with any of this please don’t hesitate to contact Michelle via mail at mea@vicpastel.com.au. We’d rather you ask for help than not submit.

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Further Resources

How do I take Photos of my Artwork

How to digitally Remove your Signature from your Painting