Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Stag Party Wins 2012 Whanganui National Best in Show

Stag Party Wins 2012 Whanganui National Best in Show

A small framed mezzotint wins the Best in Show Award at the 2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition. By Esmee McAuley of Whanganui, the playful work grabbed the attention of the judges with its velvet blacks, the standard text of skulls and mortality, and an addition of a tiara. As the title of the work implies, Stag Party is one for the boys that conveys the drunken hungover morning haze of tiaras, strip clubs, and a mysterious woman's panties in the jacket pocket. How do I explain this to the missus? Dead man walking!

Congratulations to prize winners of the 2012 Whanganui National Art Awards

2012 Whanganui National Art Awards Best in Show winner

Stag Party, Mezzotint, by Esmee McAuley, Whanganui

2012 Whanganui National Art Awards Certificates of Merit

Chica's Soul, Mixed Media, by Andria Pablo, Wellington

The Propitious Emergence of Interminable Weirdness, Glicee Print, by Elijah Lamont, Whanganui

For the fourth annual awards show, 50 artists entered from around 12 regions around New Zealand. The conveners, the Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust, are very pleased with the number of entries submitted, and the quality of the works.

Judges

Aaron Potaka (Whanganui) - Printmaker

Pat Cush (Whanganui) - Painter and Printmaker

Sheyne Tuffery (Wellington)- Printmaker

Sponsored by Creative Communities Wanganui District, Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios, Pub Charity, The United Lodge of Wanganui No.468, Whanganui Community Foundation, and Mickey's Superliquor.

The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards promotes the fine arts in New Zealand. As a leading city in training and nurturing it's artists, Whanganui takes its place as one of the movers and shakers in contemporary New Zealand art with the annual Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards.

Established in 2009, the Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards has all works for sale and a cash award is given to the artist with the Best in Show as judged by a selection panel.

The competition is open to all artists living and working in New Zealand, and offers an array of styles and tastes. The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards aims to promote New Zealand artists and New Zealand contemporary arts, and to bring new arts experiences to the city.

The 2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards, August 24 to September 14, 2012 at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre, 19 Taupo Quay, Whanganui

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Sponsors Coming Onboard as Whanganui National Approaches

Sponsors Coming Onboard as Whanganui National Approaches

New sponsors have come onboard as the 2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards approaches with less than two months to go before the exhibition opens at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre in August.

Pub Charity and Creative Communities Wanganui District have joined Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios, The United Lodge of Wanganui No.468, and Mickey's Superliquor in bringing this year's event.

Receiving days are from August 20 to 22, 10.30am to 4pm, at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre, 19 Taupo Quay, Whanganui. Entry forms are available  for download from http://www.24bar7.com/.

The Opening Function and Awards Presentation will be August 23 at 5pm. Printmakers and painters Aaron Potaka and Pat Cush of Whanganui, and Sheyne Tuffery, a multimedia artist from Wellington, are the judges selecting the Best in Show, and Certificates of Merit.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards

2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards


The 2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards entry form has been released for artists aiming to submit to the competition in August. The exhibition is open to all artists living and working in New Zealand.


Entry forms are available online from http://www.24bar7.com/
 The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust are the conveners of the exhibition. The trustees are pleased with the growing recognition of the event. The Best in Show Award includes a $500 prize. Two Certificates of Merit carry a prize $100.


The judges for the 2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards are Aaron Potaka, trustee and a Whanganui printmaker, Pat Cush, a Whanganui painter, and Sheyne Tuffery of Wellington, a printmaker. The judges will select the Best in Show Award and two Certificates of Merit winners.


The competition is designed to create a national platform for visual artists in painting, printmaking, photography, glass production, sculpture and mixed media, and to build relationships between the national arts sector and the Whanganui arts community. The Whanganui National is a competition where New Zealand artists and arts are supported by the art conscious public of this city, and acknowledge the talent of the country’s artists with awards.


The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust are pleased with the growth of the Award Exhibition, with artists from across New Zealand entering.


Receiving days are August 20 to 22, 2012 at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre, 19 Taupo Quay, Wanganui


The Awards Presentation will be made at the opening function at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre on Thursday, August 23, 2012. The the exhibition runs till September 14.


The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust are pleased with the growth of the Award Exhibition, with artists from across New Zealand entering.


The Trust is grateful for the sponsorships to date from the United Lodge of Wanganui No. 468, Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios, and Mickey’s, in presenting the 2012 Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Trust Invites Public to Open Studio

Trust Invites Public to Open Studio

The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust is excited about participating in the 2012 Whanganui Artists Open Studios in March. It is a proactive way to promote Trust events and activities, as well as engage the public in demonstrations in painting and printmaking and other disciplines.

The trust was set up in 2010 to convene the annual Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Awards, and has a group of enthusiastic arts and business practitioners as Trustees. Having the awards show grow each year has prompted the trust to expand its activities to engage more with the wider community, and that includes the Open Studio.

Trust chairman Aaron Potaka is pleased to be able to have the trustees, as working artists and business mentors, participating in Open Studio. "What is really apparent from the buzz coming from the trustees is the excitement of directly engaging the public through their art making and promoting", he says.

Mr Potaka says it is important for the trust that the public sees art in process, from blank canvases and papers to finished works. "That way visitors have a real insight into art making and build a rapport with the artists and their works, away from the gallery environment where that relationship is less intimate."

The trustees consist of Aaron Potaka as a printmaker and painter, Neil Buddle working in printmaking and mixed media assemblage, Esther Topfer as mixed media artist and printmaker, Sandra Louwrens de Kock working with painting media, whilst Bernie Steyn is a fine arts student. Ariki Toru is responsible for trust development and marketing.

The Trust Open Studio will have an Exhibition of Trustees showing the works of the trustees, as well as the working studio, with the possibility of workshops for visitors in painting and printmaking.

Visitors can learn about what the Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust does, upcoming Trust events and activities, and the promotion of New Zealand contemporary fine arts. "We are really looking forward to entertaining, enlightening and engaging with our visitors to send them of with a behind-the-scenes look and hands-on participation in art making, and a better appreciation of art practice", Mr Potaka says.

The 2012 Whanganui Artists Open Studios is on 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th of March.

The Whanganui National Art Exhibition and Award Trust Open Studio is located on Level One, the Old Chronicle Building, 22 Drews Ave, Whanganui, and open from 10am to 4pm.

Thanks to Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios, Mathathane Studio, and the Whanganui Arts Marketing and Development Trust for their support.