Record entries have been received for this year’s Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award for painting and drawing.
The prestigious award has drawn 338 entries from 271 artists from around the country. Award convenor, Arts Whakatane’s Heather Hourigan, says this compares to the previous record of 320 entries in 2012, with strong support coming from Auckland, Christchurch and the Wellington region. Forty-six entries were received from Eastern Bay of Plenty artists.
The entries will all arrive at Te Koputu a te whanga a Toi - the Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre - during two receiving sessions on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 January, ahead of the selection and judging process the following day. Selected works will be hung next Thursday ready for the gala opening of the 2013 Summer Arts Festival on Friday.
Whakatane District Council Museum and Arts Exhibition Coordinator Kay Boreham says the logistics of handling over 330 artworks in the confined time period available are considerable, but the support of a team of experienced volunteers and art students to help with receiving, unpacking and repacking any unselected works will be of great assistance.
This year’s judge is renowned artist and art historian Melvin (Pat) Day of Wellington, who faces the task of selecting the works that will form the exhibition, and from those, judging the six merit awards, the highly commended and the overall award winning work. The overall award, sponsored by the Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust, is a cash prize of $10,000. The total prize pool is $15,250.
The award winners will be announced at the gala event on Friday evening (January 24). Tickets for the event are available at The Good Life, The Strand Whakatane.
The exhibition is open to the public from 25 January to 31 March. Over the Auckland Anniversary weekend, the opening hours for the exhibition spaces at Te Koputu will extended hours from 10am to 5pm. A highlight on Saturday will be Melvin Day’s floor-talk, which will provide a greater insight into his selection and the merits of the works.
The Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award has been the cornerstone event of the Whakatane Community Arts Council’s Summer Arts Festival for 28 years. In 2013, the Arts Council (now Arts Whakatane) is partnering with the Whakatane District Council Museum and Arts team to present the exhibition.
More than 25 public programmes will be held at Te Koputu during the exhibition, including artist floor talks, art seminars, live music and dance demonstrations.