New picks on the dock | Art Gallery of NSW

Three people (two standing, one seated) in front of large double doors with the words 'Packing Room Deliveries' — Packing Room pickers (left to right) Monica Rudhar, Tim Dale and Alexis Wildman

At the start of the Archibald Prize season each year, hundreds of entrants in the nation’s most famous portrait prize deliver their artworks in person to the loading dock at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The atmosphere is buzzing: an excited queue of artists waits outside the giant double doors of the Packing Room with canvases and entry forms at the ready; trolleys of portraits glide past laden with freshly-framed faces; and hopes run high as painters explain their journeys to hovering journos.

In the heart of this activity – the Packing Room itself – three hands-on art installers are keeping an eye out. Alexis Wildman, Monica Rudhar and Tim Dale are the Art Gallery’s new Packing Room pickers, and they’ll be selecting the winner of this year’s Packing Room Prize.

For more than 30 years, the Packing Room Prize has been awarded to the best entry in the Archibald Prize as judged by the Art Gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries. Former head packer Brett Cuthbertson famously held 52% of the vote, and on retiring after 41 years at the Art Gallery in 2022, he passed the baton to this new generation of installation technicians to share the voting responsibility equally.

A person stands with crossed arms in front of artworks turned to face a wall — Brett Cuthbertson, who has now retired as head packer

Alexis, Monica and Tim are professional art handlers who have 19 years of Archie experience between them, gained under Brett’s guidance.

‘They’re fantastic. They’re great,’ Brett said of his colleagues. ‘I know I’m leaving it in good hands.’

As the delivery of Archibald entries kicked off in March, Monica said the team members were hoping that they too would build a strong connection with artists who submitted paintings year after year.

‘I remember Brett having such great rapport with people,’ she explained, ‘and I hope we can offer that same warmth.’

‘It’s both daunting and amazing to be a part of the new generation of the Packing Room Prize,’ Alexis said, adding with a grin, ‘With great power comes great responsibility, right? I feel like that’s something Brett would say.’

Tim has worked on the Archibald for years with Brett and with Steve Peters, the very first Packing Room judge. ‘I feel proud to follow in their footsteps,’ he said, ‘And at the same time look forward to building on their legacy.’

For day after day during the delivery period, the three pickers and the Packing Room team welcomed artists, unwrapped paintings, decanted trucks of works arriving by art courier, juggled media interviews, fielded entrant queries, and moved a staggering number of artworks through to the temporary exhibition storage space for judging.

As entries drew to a close, the trio agreed the experience was a heightened one for them.

‘It felt different this year,’ Monica said. ‘I felt even more invested, with such an important job – a different sense of responsibility. I had to be alert, looking, checking in with Tim and Lex, checking with the team. We really relied on each other to keep an eye across all the entries.’

‘You’ve got to adjust the way you work,’ Tim explained. ‘You can’t just look at entry forms or at the backs; you’ve got to actually find the time to look at the artwork.’

‘We didn’t have Brett’s expertise this year, but it was also made different through the collaborating,’ said Alexis. ‘I was grateful to have the ability to lean on my peers to help decide; it’s what made it so special. All of us got to make it a reality.’

Their Packing Room colleagues – comprised of staff from the installation, exhibition, registration, conservation and visitor experience teams – made sure to keep the pickers informed of any works that had the crew buzzing.

‘There was a lot of input from our co-workers, a lot of presence,’ Tim said. ‘They saw something that stood out, they announced it. And it was interesting to be inside the bubble, to watch how other people around you responded to the works.’

A person walks past a large 'Packing Room' sign into a working space with people, equipment and stored items — Inside the Packing Room at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

After all that, it was time for the trio to deliberate. They first narrowed the contenders down to four or five favourites, then spent the next couple of days revisiting all entries to ensure they’d given everything consideration.

‘Between the three of us we’ve got such a vast variety of taste, what we like, what draws us in,’ said Alexis. ‘So it was really interesting to bring that all together and decide on just one.’

Their final choice was a work that had jumped out at the team as soon as it arrived.

‘We saw it when it came off the truck, and we put it on the trolley,’ said Tim, and it was interesting because as it made its way through the building, everyone it went past said, “Oh, look at that one, look at that one!”

‘It was attention-grabbing: the way it was painted, the bright colours – and the face was recognisable even for people who couldn’t place the name,’ Monica said. ‘Even regardless of knowing the story behind the sitter and what they’re wearing, it’s still very captivating.’

‘A sense of mystery,’ Tim added.

And were there any surprises from the trio’s new judging experience?

‘Just how hard the whole thing was,’ said Tim. ‘All the works in our shortlist were so different from each other.’

‘It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be,’ said Monica. ‘There were so many good ones.’

‘Straight up,’ Alexis laughed. ‘We had so many put aside at the start. But there are surprises every year; stuff you can never account for – and if it was the same every year, it wouldn’t be the Archibald Prize.’

It’s no wonder the new pickers had such a challenging job in their very first year – on final count, 2023 brought in 949 Archibald entries, the second-highest number ever. To pick a winner from among all these, three heads could definitely be better than one!

And the winner is ...

Andrea Huelin for her portrait of Cal Wilson, titled Clown jewels. Find out more about it

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2023 exhibition opens 6 May 2023. See the other Archibald finalists