One of Wanaka’s most prestigious annual art exhibitions is back with 124 artists vying for $16,500 of prizes at the Holy Family School’s Craigs Investment Partners Aspiring Art Prize.

The annual event, now in its 14th year, is an art competition, exhibition, auction and fundraiser for the school. All the artworks are for sale and one of the requirements of the exhibition is the artwork must never before have been displayed.

This exhibition attracts artists from around New Zealand and is becoming a nationally recognised art award. Many of the artists who will display this year have entered art in previous year’s Aspiring Art Prize. 

Winners of the prizes, including the $10,000 prize for the Supreme Winner, will be announced at the exhibition’s Gala Opening tomorrow evening (Friday, January 8). Tickets to the gala event have already sold out but the exhibition will run for four days, from Saturday (January 9) to Tuesday (January 12) at the Holy Family Catholic School on Aubrey Road. 

The exhibition is organised by the Friends of the Holy Family Catholic School Committee and its chair, Sarah Jamieson, said they were very pleased with the support the event has received, not only from sponsors and artists but also those attending the gala.

“It’s amazing to run an event that’s sold out in advance,” she said.

The art prizes are awarded for the Supreme Winner and runnerup, Best Landscape, People’s Choice, Best Work under $1,000 and, for the first time, a new category titled The Round Corner.

The Round Corner is for artwork created on a 40cm round shape; it can be any medium from canvas to wood, Sarah said, and it must be priced for sale under $1,000.

In past years, 80% of artworks sold were purchased during the gala evening, Sarah said.

“The calibre of the art is incredible,” she said and she recommended those who wanted to buy art but couldn’t go to the gala evening should get in early when the exhibition opens to the public on Saturday morning at 10:00am. 

The exhibition is the school’s major fundraising event and money earned from past exhibitions has been allocated to purchase a variety of things, from school resources and playground equipment to a school van and subsidising school camps.

“We’re really looking forward to this event and are very grateful to our sponsors who have been supporting us for a significant amount of time,” she said. Craigs Investment Partners has been chief sponsor of the major prize since the exhibition’s inception.

With the success of previous year’s exhibitions behind them, the school has just established the Aspiring Arts Foundation and part of the proceeds from this year’s exhibition will be donated to the foundation.

The foundation’s purpose is to foster and encourage arts in the Holy Family Catholic School, Sarah said, and she believed the sponsors and artists would enjoy knowing some of the funds raised will go directly back into supporting the school’s future visual arts programme. Funding could be used to pay for a guest artist or for a class to enter an exhibition, for instance.

The exhibition will be open to the public (from Saturday to Tuesday) from 10:00am to 3:00pm daily at the Holy Family Catholic School. Entrance fee $5.