The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize is Australia's richest prize for natural history art and has quickly become one of Australia's most prestigious art competitions since its inception in 2003. It promotes and recognises excellence in art that depicts natural history or wildlife, and draws entries from around the world.

The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize endeavours to celebrate our intricate and complex global biodiversity and to encourage excellence in natural history art. Now in its third year, the competition has received an incredible response from artists nationally and internationally. From the 609 entries received, judges had the arduous task of selecting a short list of 109 finalists.

Prize winners and highly commended entries from the 2005 Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize will be on display at the National Archives of Australia, Canberra, from Friday 7 October until Sunday 20 November 2005.