Marlene Antico OAM Founder and former Principal Sponsor of the Paddington Art Prize handed over the reigns to her son
Chris Antico and daughter Pia Antico in 2023; with them taking over as Principal Sponsor and Art Prize Coordinator, respectively.

Having freed herself from Executive control of the Prize, Marlene fostered her decades long desire to provide an additional opportunity for unrepresented Finalists to have their artwork exhibited and sold.
With this in mind, Marlene conceived of the adjunct personally curated online exhibition 'Passion For Painting'

This inaugural Passion For Painting exhibition is curated from a selection of 2023 Paddington Art Prize unrepresented Finalists, included are Louisa Chirrcop, Anthony Buselli, Mark O'Hara, Caitlin Reilly, Julie Nicholson & Douglas Schoefield.

The online exhibition opens August 1 and will run until August 31, 2024; all works will be available for purchase online.

Passion For Painting Exhibition aims to display the variety of ways contemporary artists experienced and painted the Australian landscape over the past 18 months.

It is Marlene's hope to continue this adjunct online exhibition project for many years to come, alongside the continued growth of the Paddington Art Prize, now in its 21st year.