Sculpture by the Sea announced the recipients of three awards Thursday 1 March, on the opening day of Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2012.

Paul Caporn was announced as the recipient of the NAB WA Sculptor Scholarship of $15,000 for his work dump. The bright yellow truck situated on the sand on Cottesloe beach is sure to be an eye catcher at this year’s exhibition.

The scholarship, sponsored by NAB, is the most generous sculptor scholarship or prize in Western Australia, and is designed to provide an artist with the funds to help them transition to the next stage of their career. Paul also received an invitation to exhibit at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2012.

Fellow WA artist Elaine Clocherty was awarded the 2012 Andrea Stretton Memorial Invitation of $5,000, and an invitation to exhibit at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2012 for her work belonging. Elaine specialises in site specific works. She created belonging as a space for viewers to contemplate their interconnectedness with local landscapes and ecologies.

ACT artist Michael Le Grand was awarded the Sculpture Inside Curator’s Prize of $1,500 for his indoor work salut. Sculpture Inside is a free public exhibition of over 100 small, wall and free standing sculptures by this year’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibiting artists. Sculpture Inside runs simultaneously with the outdoor exhibition and is open daily.

Over 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the much loved event, which is Perth’s largest free outdoor art exhibition. Tourists and locals can expect to see over 70 original sculptures from West Australian, interstate and international artists, overlooking the breathtaking Indian Ocean sunsets.

The 31 West Australian artists exhibiting their works on Cottesloe Beach, including renowned West Australian sculptors Lou Lambert and Tony Jones, are joined by artists from NSW including Margarita Sampson and Orest Keywan, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT, NT and Queensland.

Exhibiting alongside the Australian artists are a number of prestigious international sculptors including Keizo Ushio and Zero Higashida from Japan, Steinunn Thorarinsdottir from Iceland and Wang Shugang and Chen Wenling from China. Sculpture by the Sea is a trans-national series of exhibitions with sister exhibitions held along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk in Sydney from 18 October – 4 November 2012 and Aarhus, Denmark in June 2013.