The months leading up to September has been fraught with excitement and electrifying energy as we prepared to put on the Trusts 36th Art Awards and Exhibition. We envisioned this years’ event to be bigger and better than any that came before, hoping to finally throw off the heavy mantle of isolation that Covid had brought with it from the previous few years. And we were not disappointed! With a marketing campaign spearheaded by Phantom Mail, sticking our posters all over the city, and a generously donated digital billboard campaign supported by Lumo Digital Outdoor signs, our signage was spotted everywhere, and thousands of people put their feet through our exhibitions’ doors!
Our three judges, Mandy Patmore, Matt Dowman and Chris Van Doren, took their task to heart in looking through the over 400 works of art to select our winners, giving valuable feedback to the winning artists and encouragement in the continuation of their arts practises.
With over 200 people attending our opening event, rubbing shoulders with some local council members, sponsors and many artists and supporters of the art, we had an amazing night of awarding over $17,000, sponsored by The Trusts, in prizes to well deserving artists.
After much applause and awarding the prizes, we were entertained with some live music by the talented Simon Head, whilst enjoying some lovely food and browsing away through the amazingly diverse art – the amount of styles, materials and techniques on display was truly awe inspiring and worth more than just one look! The crowd of attendees were just as diverse as the art itself and it was a joy to behold the artist community come together to enjoy and celebrate each other.
Attendees could also vote for their favourite piece of art throughout the duration of the exhibition and stood a chance to win a pair of Paint ‘n Chill vouchers and award their favourite piece $150 each!
The People’s Popular Choice winners are: For 2D we have Hugh Major with his piece “Customs Street 1910”, in 3D art we have Lisa Williamson with “Our Time has come”. The winner in the 13-15yrs art category is Kayla Laubscher with “Blonde” and in the 16-18yr old category we have Yeyoung Kim with her piece “Gabrielle”.
We now look forward to our Members exhibition in April/May of next year and hope to see you all there again for a magnificent event!!
Thank you again to all our sponsors – without whom we would not be able to host this event and award these life changing awards.
Phone number: 09-838 5733
Email address: wccac@waitakerearts.com
Office hours: Monday to Thursday, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm, closed on Friday
All entry forms must be FULLY completed, including pricing. Incomplete entry forms and late entries will not be accepted.
Please note, running a member’s exhibition is reliant on volunteer help. Please let us know if and when you will be able to volunteer in any of the below capacities:
- Helping out on Bring In Day (receiving artworks)
- Helping at the Help Desk during the Art Exhibition/Market
- Helping at Pack down
- Delivering leaflets/posters to libraries/community centres etc
- Putting up signage
Credit Card payments will incur an extra 2.5% charge.
All artworks must be for sale and a 25% (inc GST) commission applies on sales. This will be deducted from the artist’s payment at the end of the exhibition.
Payments may take up to 14 working days (from 18 May 2026) to process and will be direct credited to your account.
Personal tax liability is the responsibility of the artist.
Insurance of artwork is the responsibility of the artist. Although Waitākere Arts will take all care, we will take no responsibility for lost or damaged work.
Work must NOT have been entered in any previous Exhibitions, must have been completed within the last 12 months and not part of any tutored workshop or class. It must be completely original.
The Committee reserves the right to refuse an entry if it does not comply with the Terms and Conditions or is deemed inappropriate or is poorly presented.
Any changes to your details must be made on or before Bring In Day. No changes can be made after this date.
All artwork must be dry. No wet paint.
Entries must be ready for hanging on hooks, with D – Rings, cord attached 1/3 down from the top of the artwork. There will be a charge for purchase of D Rings or cord on the day of $10.
Each entry must be identified with a swing tag attached to the hanging string, with artist info – (Artist Name, Title of work, Medium, Category, Price).
Work over 3kg cannot be wall mounted. (Please consult with Waitakere Arts if over 3kg).
Note – our exhibition will be on black panels.
NOTE: Failure to collect work will result in a $10 per day fee to cover moving and storage of the artwork, useless it’s an emergency and prior arrangements have been made with the Office Manager. Artwork will become the property of Waitākere Arts Council and be sold or donated to charity if not collected by 1st July 2026.
All entry forms must be FULLY completed, including pricing. Incomplete entry forms and late entries will not be accepted.
Please note, running a member’s exhibition is reliant on volunteer help. Please let us know if and when you will be able to volunteer in any of the below capacities:
- Helping out on Bring In Day (receiving artworks)
- Helping at the Help Desk during the Art Exhibition/Market
- Helping at Pack down
- Delivering leaflets/posters to libraries/community centres etc
- Putting up signage
Credit Card payments will incur an extra 2.5% charge.
All artworks must be for sale and a 25% (inc GST) commission applies on sales. This will be deducted from the artist’s payment at the end of the exhibition.
Payments may take up to 14 working days (from 18 May 2026) to process and will be direct credited to your account.
Personal tax liability is the responsibility of the artist.
Insurance of artwork is the responsibility of the artist. Although Waitākere Arts will take all care, we will take no responsibility for lost or damaged work.
Work must NOT have been entered in any previous Exhibitions, must have been completed within the last 12 months and not part of any tutored workshop or class. It must be completely original.
The Committee reserves the right to refuse an entry if it does not comply with the Terms and Conditions or is deemed inappropriate or is poorly presented.
Any changes to your details must be made on or before Bring In Day. No changes can be made after this date.
All artwork must be dry. No wet paint.
Entries must be ready for hanging on hooks, with D – Rings, cord attached 1/3 down from the top of the artwork. There will be a charge for purchase of D Rings or cord on the day of $10.
Each entry must be identified with a swing tag attached to the hanging string, with artist info – (Artist Name, Title of work, Medium, Category, Price).
Work over 3kg cannot be wall mounted. (Please consult with Waitakere Arts if over 3kg).
Note – our exhibition will be on black panels.
NOTE: Failure to collect work will result in a $10 per day fee to cover moving and storage of the artwork, useless it’s an emergency and prior arrangements have been made with the Office Manager. Artwork will become the property of Waitākere Arts Council and be sold or donated to charity if not collected by 1st July 2026.
This awards exhibition is open to artists 19 years and over at the time of entry. Please select Youth form for under 19 years.
No Digital Artworks or Couriered Works accepted. Payment must be received for entry to be accepted.
No photography section for Adults, only for Youth (13-18 Years Old)
All works will automatically enter the “Open section/competition”.
Adult works may be entered into only one themed awards category.
- LOOKING WEST: “Capturing the impressions and spirit of West Auckland” (only open to artists living in West Auckland)
- OUR PEOPLE OUR PLACE: “Embracing the changing face of the people within West Auckland” (must contain a figurative element)
- INSPIRATIONAL AOTEAROA: Finding that unique factor which identifies with AOTEAROA | NEW ZEALAND
All work must have been completed between September 2025 and September 2026 and not have been previously exhibited anywhere else. All Adult work must be priced.
Waitākere Arts' commission on Adult work sold is 30% of the sale price (incl. GST) & 20% of the sale price on Youth work. Personal tax liability is the responsibility of the artist.
Insurance is the responsibility of the artist. While all due reasonable care will be taken with your artwork, Waitākere Arts does not accept responsibility for loss or damage whilst work is in transit or being exhibited.
The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. All work will be judged. Any work that does not meet exhibition standard will not be hung.
All work must be original and the sole work of the artist (thereby not subject to copyright infringement) and must NOT have been done in a class of instruction. All work entered must be signed by the artist. Direct copies of other artists’ work or copies of copy-righted photographic images will not be accepted. We will not accept wet, badly presented work and/or inappropriate content. All mixed media work needs to adhere to all copyright laws and not exceed 40% usage of unoriginal printed material. (i.e. Must be your own work)
Any hung work must not exceed 120cm or 3kgs, including the frame. Oversized or heavy work will not be accepted. 3D/Sculpture – if your work is heavy or fragile, please consult with the office prior to registration/submission of your entry.
Label Identification: Please attach a swing tag to the back of your artwork’s cord. The swing tag must include Artist’s Name; Phone no; Title of Work; Category; & Price and Medium used.
Work entered for this exhibition must remain on display for the full duration of the exhibition and CANNOT be picked up by the artist before the end of the Exhibition.
You will only be contacted prior to the exhibition if you have won a prize, though we encourage all participants to support their fellow artists and attend the opening evening and awards ceremony.
Collection of work is the responsibility of the artist. You may collect your work from Shed 2, from 4:30pm -6:30pm, Sunday 18 October or 10am – 1pm Monday 19 October.
NOTE: Failure to collect work will result in a $20 per day fee to cover moving and storage of the artwork, useless it’s an emergency and prior arrangements have been made with the Office Manager. Artwork will become the property of Waitākere Arts and be sold or donated to charity if not collected by 1 December 2026.
Waitākere Arts reserves the right to photograph and publish any entries in such media as they see fit, to promote these or subsequent art events, and will endeavour to take all necessary steps to protect your work from digital theft.