The prize is open to any artist worldwide who has created a visual artwork to the theme of 'Tasmania'.

Prize director Kelly Renny said that the prize's reputation had grown rapidly in its seven years of running.

They are now receiving more than 200 entries a year, and about half of those are coming from artists outside of Tasmania, Ms Renny said.

"We are quite proud of this prize," she said.

"We're quite young and not as large as some of the other art prizes in Tasmania, but the prize money is very substantial.

"Twenty thousand dollars - quite a large prize for a regional area."

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The 2019 Bay of Fires Art Prize will be judged by Jonathan Holmes, Ashleigh Whatling and Sean Kelly.

Mr Holmes is a University of Tasmania emeritus professor, and discipline scholar in creative and performing arts with the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, as well as a former trustee of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and member of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council.

Ms Whatling is the curator of Visual Arts and Design at Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, previously with the Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia.

Sean Kelly is the arts coordinator at the Moonah Arts Centre, Hobart.

The prize is part of the Bay of Fires Winter Arts Festival, which will be held on the June long weekend, June 7-10, in townships from Four Mile Creek through to St Helens, St Marys, Scamander and Binalong Bay.

The winner will be announced on Friday, June 7.

For the first time, the prize is using an online system to receive entries.

​"We've had a bit of a revamp, and with the online portal it should be a bit easier to enter this year," Ms Renny said.

Artists are asked to go bayoffireswinterartsfestival.com.au/20000-art-prize/ and follow the directions, before April 30.

The theme this year has also changed, from 'Our Island Inheritance' to the broader 'Tasmania'.

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