Artistic talent of Y&R youth co-researcher, Yehansa Dahanayake, highlighted on ABC TV's Portrait Artist of the Year program

Y&R youth co-researcher Yehansa Dahanayake has just made her first appearance on national television after being selected from more than 55,000 artists around Australia to compete on ABC TV’s Portrait Artist of the Year – Season 2.

In the series, fifty-four contestants are required to paint portraits of prominent Australians within four hours while being filmed, to compete for the ultimate prize of a life-changing commission, with the final piece to be shown at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Yehansa appeared on Episode 5 of the series, where she painted a portrait of athlete and Young Australian of the Year, Nedd Brockmann. She said of the experience; “This was such an incredible opportunity and a dream come true - I’ve been such a big fan of this show, it provided me comfort and inspiration throughout all of my artblock moments, and it feel surreal to be on Season 2! It was a dream to meet some of my artistic heroes like Abdul Abdullah who has inspired me throughout my art journey! Being judged by him, Robert Wellington and Bree Pickering meant the world - their expertise shines in every piece of feedback given, and I can’t wait to improve more and more and become a stronger artist.”

Watch Portrait Artist of the Year here

Yehansa’s involvement with Y&R began as a 15-year-old, where her involvement with the youth climate movement led her to be employed as a youth co-researcher on the UNICEF & Y&R authored report entitled “We deserve to live in a thriving world: Child-centred indicators for climate change.” This project sought to gain an insight into the experiences of a diverse group of children and young people in climate-affected communities in New South Wales and then channel their insights into climate-related policy, advocacy and programming around the country. Yehansa wrote a foreword to this report which you can read on pg 4 .

Yehansa also recently featured in the Future Right Now pictorial book which explores the Australian youth climate movement over the past decade. In this book, Yehansa interviewed Y&R Co-Director Professor Phillippa Collin about the movement, its context and how it has shifted over time.

Now studying an environmental law degree at Macquarie University, Yehansa’s climate advocacy has also taken another important step as she is currently involved in the Future Minds campaign which will present Australia’s first youth climate mental health policy framework at COP31 in Türkiye later this year.

Until then, be sure to tune into Portrait Artist of the Year on October 5, 2026 as the final commission and overall winner for Season 2 will be announced at the National Portrait Gallery. Our vote is for – you guessed it - Yehansa!!!