Dozens of pieces of art were sold and many hundreds of people visited the exhibition as part of this year’s Craigs Aspiring Art Prize, which wrapped up yesterday (Monday January 16). 

The annual event - which is a fundraiser for the Holy Family Catholic School - kicked off with a gala awards night on Friday before the exhibition opened to the public on Saturday.

Co-organiser Sarah Jamieson said this year’s exhibition had been the biggest and most successful yet in many ways: There were more entries than ever; more pieces in the exhibition; more art sold during the gala; and more people through the exhibition.

The exhibition’s ‘round corner’ section was won by Angela Rowe for her piece ‘Golden Oyster’. PHOTO: Wānaka App 

“The variety of work this year is amazing,” Sarah said. “And the people that have been coming through have been truly blown away by the quality. That has translated to sales.”

Seventy-six pieces of art sold during the exhibition - up on 48 last year - and “quite a few pieces we could have sold ten times over,” Sarah said.

One of the exhibition’s many visitors taking in the art on Monday. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Judges would have had a hard time narrowing down the top pieces from the 241 options but in the end the Supreme Award - this year with a huge prize of $20,000 - went to Marc Blake for his piece ‘Happy Birthday’. 

‘The Screen Test’ by Philip Madill was the 2023 Runner Up; ‘Fasi Lalaga’ by Susan Kostanich won the 2023 Merit Award; and ‘Down At The Farm Looking West’ by Kelly Pearce won the 2023 Best Landscape.

There were more than 240 pieces in this year’s exhibition, which spanned many classrooms at Holy Family Catholic School. PHOTO: Wānaka App

The 2023 Landscape Runner-Up went to ‘Forest Walk, Forest Talk’ by Claire Beynon; the 2023 Best Work Under $1,000 was won by Aaron Potaka for his piece ‘The Blessed Virgin Mary’; and the 2023 Best Round Work went to Angela Rowe for ‘Golden Oyster’.

This year’s guest artist John Toomer, who specialises in contemporary realism, displayed four pieces. PHOTO: Wānaka App

The People’s Choice award winner will be shared on the Aspiring Art Prize Facebook page when the votes are counted. 

While the final fundraising figure is yet to be tallied, Sarah said the figure was north of $30,000.

Money raised will support Holy Family Catholic School initiatives, which in the past have included new playground equipment, a school van and subsidising school camps.