Artists from all over the country are vying for the prestigious Craigs Investment Partners Aspiring Art Prize supreme award which will be announced at tonight’s (Friday January 14) gala event hosted by Wānaka’s Holy Family Catholic School.

The annual event has attracted a record 140 artists this year, each submitting an original art piece which has never before been publicly exhibited.

The art prize and exhibition is organised by the Friends of the Holy Family Catholic School Committee and chair Sarah Jamieson said the support of so many artists for the event, many submitting new works year after year, was amazing and the calibre of the artworks was exceptional.

“The quality is unbelievable; it blows my mind,” she said.

The winner of last year’s People’s Choice Prize, Mark Cowden, is the guest artist this year and will exhibit five works. He describes his eye-catching style as “multiplane” as the artwork changes its form depending on the angle from which it’s viewed.

Visitors view some of the 124 entries in the 2021 Craigs Aspiring Art Prize. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Sarah estimated around 50 percent of the artists were “names that pop up again and again”, including many well-respected local artists from Wānaka and Hāwea, and while the art prize is still well supported by artists based in Central Otago, it now also attracts artists the length of the country with a large contingent from the North Island exhibiting this year, she said.

She attributes the increase in the number and quality of entries to “a growing awareness” of the prestigious nature of the Craigs Aspiring Art Prize. 

With a prize pool of $16,500 spread across four categories - Best Landscape, Best Work under $1000, People Choice and The Round Corner, as well as the  Supreme Winner and Runner-up - it is one of the largest art awards in the country, she said.

Craigs Investment Partners remains the chief sponsor, offering $10,000 to the Supreme Winner, as it has done since the event’s inception 15 years ago. 

The Round Corner category, for artwork created on a 40cm round shape of any medium, was invented last year and has proved so popular, attracting a quality range of art works, it has been retained this year, Sarah said. 

“We are really pleased with the number, variety and quality in this category,” Sarah said.

She said all the artworks are available for sale, although many are snapped up by guests at the opening night gala event and, once again, the gala night’s 300 tickets are already sold out. 

The art prize is the school’s major fundraising event and in past years the funds raised have contributed towards a variety of school resources, including helping finance school camps in Wellington and Southland.

Proceeds will also be donated to the Aspiring Arts Foundation which was established to foster and encourage arts in the Holy Family Catholic School. Several art pieces from school students will be on display in the school’s entrance foyer during the exhibition. 

Prize winners will be announced at the gala event and all artworks will be on public display at the Holy Family School from Saturday (January  15) through to Tuesday (January 18). 

Sarah said masks must be worn when inside viewing the exhibition but vaccine passes were not required as the numbers viewing the exhibition will be limited to 50 people at any one time.

The four day exhibition is open from 10:00am until 3:00pm daily with an entry fee of $5 (children 11 years and younger are welcome free).