A second showing for 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing winning works

Masterton is set to host 13 new award-winning artworks at Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, fresh from the 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing exhibition in Whakatāne.

This is the first time an extended showing has come to the Wairarapa.  Co-ordinator Heather Hourigan says the new partnership with Aratoi is an ideal way to reach out to a different community. "Audiences from the Wairarapa would not normally get to see this national award exhibition," she says. "We also liked the idea that this extended showing would highlight the opportunities open to Wairarapa artists."

This non-acquisitive award invites entries from New Zealand artists each year, and celebrates a unique variety of conceptual, visual, and geographical terrain. The 2019 Painting and Drawing Award attracted 500 entries, exhibited close to 80 finalists, and distributed a prize pool of more than $20,000 to 13 deserving artists. Twelve of the winners were selected by international Guest Judge Chris McAuliffe (Australia); with one winner selected by public vote during the Whakatāne exhibition.

"Aratoi invites everyone to attend the opening event on Thursday 11 April at 5pm, featuring a presentation by MMCA Co-ordinator Heather Hourigan," says Aratoi Director Susanna Shadbolt. 

For participating artists, the MMCA offers professional development opportunities by showcasing their practice to peers, collectors, critics, museum curators, the media and the community at large. This special showing includes work by Mark Anstis (Ōpōtiki), John Brown (Hastings), Esther Deans (Auckland), Mary Duggan (Whakatāne), Kirsten Ferguson (Dunedin), Toby George King (Auckland), Teresa HR Lane (Auckland), Raewyn Martyn (Wellington), Nicola McCafferty (Wellington), Adrienne Millwood (Lower Hutt), Sena Park (Paihia), Danae Ripley (Auckland), and Lea-Anne Sheather (Whakatāne). 

This exhibition of the winning works is toured by 2019 MMCA exhibition partners Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne District Council, and hosted by Aratoi.