2026 Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards (GAMAA) Finalists Announced

Museums & Galleries Queensland is delighted to announce the finalists for the 2026 Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards (GAMAA).

The winners will be revealed at a special awards ceremony hosted by Ipswich Art Gallery in October.

We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who submitted a nomination this year. The breadth and quality of nominations received reflect the outstanding work being undertaken across Queensland’s gallery and museum sector.

Our congratulations to all of this year’s finalists. We look forward to celebrating your achievements in October!

Artspace Mackay for 2025 Libris Awards

City of Moreton Bay for Fresh Eyes 2025

City of Moreton Bay & Munimba-ja Arts Centre for Blak Creatives Exchange 2025

Dogwood Crossing, Miles for Wildflowering on the Western Downs

Griffith University Art Museum for Craig & Karl: Double Vision

HOTA, Home of the Arts for Ken Done: No Rules 

Ipswich Art Gallery for Leonard Brown – Painting the Celestial

Living Museum of Logan for Hmong Journeys: Threads of Home

Low Isles Preservation Society and Low Isles Museum for Volunteer Museum / Gallery of the Year

Noosa Regional Gallery for Gaza Skate Team

Queensland Museum for Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends

Queensland Museum for First Nations Undergraduate Student Research Program

Queensland Museum for Make a Scene: Fashioning Queer Identity and Club Culture in the 90s

QUT Art Museum for Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface 

RD Milns Antiquities Museum for ΝΟΣΤΟΙ | Homecomings: Stories of the Ionian Island Diaspora in Queensland

Redland Art Gallery for CREATE EXCHANGE: Three-Year Artist Residency, Exhibition and Activation Project

Redlands Coast Museum for Building a Sustainable Museum: A Whole-of-Organisation Transformation in Governance, Collections and Community Stewardship

Roma on Bungil Gallery for Volunteer Museum / Gallery of the Year

State Library of Queensland for Driven: every car has a story

State Library of Queensland for The unbroken spirit of the Kalkadoons

Sunshine Coast Council / Landsborough Museum
for Revitalising Landsborough Museum

UQ Art Museum for Public art on campus: SUNA (Middle Ground)

Waltzing Matilda Centre for Creating legacy impacts through art

Jessica Brown – Volunteer, Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying
& The Royal Historical Society of Queensland

Edith Cuffe OAM –
Chair of the Board (previously CEO), Abbey Museum of Art & Archaeology

Dr Jacqui Donegan – Director, Heritage & Archives, Mater Heritage & Archives Centre

Karen Stephens – Exhibition Supervisor, Waltzing Matilda Centre

2026 GAMAA Supporters

The 2026 Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards (GAMAA) are proudly supported by the Ipswich Art Gallery.

The 2026 GAMAA trophies are proudly supported by Brian Tucker

The 2026 GAMAA are also sponsored by Public Galleries Queensland and Australian Museums and Galleries Association Queensland