Entries now open for new Footscray Hospital photography competition

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Melbourne’s western suburbs are invited to take part in a new photography competition and prize, with selected photographs to feature throughout the new Footscray Hospital.

The competition’s theme of place: connections to nature and wellbeing encourages entries that respond to the natural elements found in the western suburbs that will bring a sense of calm to hospital patients and visitors.

Footscray Community Arts, the official arts partner for the new Footscray Hospital, is leading the competition that is free to enter and open to beginners through to seasoned photographers.

Daniel Santangeli, CEO and Artistic Director at Footscray Community Arts, was excited to launch the final public art opportunity for the new hospital through the medium of photography.

“It’s been a rewarding partnership working with Plenary Health and project partners to curate public art for the facility, commission local artists and now to be launching this community-based photography competition.

“The beauty of this photography competition is you don’t need a professional camera; you just need a keen eye to capture the everyday moments in the west that offer a connection to nature or place.”

Selected photographs will feature as part of any exhibition at the new Footscray Hospital and displayed digitally when the hospital opens.

Plenary Health New Footscray Hospital Project Chair Kelvyn Lavelle said, “As part of Plenary Health’s partnership with Footscray Community Arts, we’re pleased to give the community the opportunity to have their photographs featured in their new hospital.

“Public art is a core part of the hospital’s overall design approach to help deliver an improvement in health and wellness, and this photography art opportunity is intended to optimise health outcomes by providing patients and visitors with a positive distraction through a connection to nature.”

The judging panel, led by Melbourne-based artist and events producer Sally Walshe (Lady Mohawk), of Show Your Westside, will be looking for work that contributes to nurturing wellbeing through art.

“This is an opportunity for Footscray and the wider west to see ourselves reflected in the heart of our new hospital. Through the lens of nature, wellbeing, and place, we get to share what makes our community unique. It’s more than a competition, it’s an invitation to shape this space with our own voices, pride, and vision.”

The photography competition forms part of hospital’s integrated public art and curatorial theme ‘of place’, with artworks that will be calming, restorative and immersive, playing an important role in providing hospital users with a sense of cultural safety.

Competition entries are now open and close on 15 October 2025.

The $1.5 billion new Footscray Hospital, on the corner of Ballarat and Geelong Roads, is scheduled to be completed this year and will open to patients in February 2026. It is being delivered by the Plenary Group-led Plenary Health, in partnership with the Victorian Health Building Authority, Western Health and Victoria University.