Artist and teacher Iain Scott Wallace chose to paint former PFLAG President and Order of Australia medal recipient Shelley Argent in a portrait aiming for the Archibald Prize.
He said one of the reasons he chose Argent was to encourage a dialogue between straight and LGBT art-lovers alike: “It would be great for the artwork to be a part of the debate, even just ‘Who is this woman and why is she here on the walls of this gallery’? Just to create awareness of what her role has been over the years and where that ties in with the current political stage for equal rights for the gay community.”