The Muswellbrook Art Prize began in 1958 as the Festival of the Valley Art Prize with the winning painting Death of Voss by Tom Gleghorn becoming the inaugural work in what has grown to become an excellent collection of modern and contemporary Australian painting, works on paper and ceramics from the Post War period of the 20th Century and now the first two decades of the 21st Century. The Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection was created as a direct result of this ongoing acquisitive art competition.

The Muswellbrook Art Prize selects only the very best works to compete in the final adjudication and be displayed in the exhibition. Many of the winning artists have had long and successful careers and many are numbered among the most significant in Australia’s creative life.