Image detail - Kirstin Carlin, Through the Trees
2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing
Introduction
This non-acquisitive award is dedicated to excellence across contemporary and traditional painting genres. The Award has developed over 28 years and sits credibly within the New Zealand arts community. A high standard of work is selected to form the exhibition from nation wide entries by three pre-selection judges
For participants, the award offers professional development opportunities for artists by showcasing their practice to peers, collectors, critics, museum curators, the media and the community at large.
Presented by Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne Museum and Arts,
Our Vision
To encourage and celebrate the development of painting and drawing on a national level and reward artists who create outstanding works.
To exhibit painting and drawing to the public and provide a forum within which works can be viewed, studied and evaluated.
The 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing
Offers over $20,000 in awards.
Exhibition opens : 16 February 2019
Entries closed for 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award (1st December 2018)
This non-acquisitive award is dedicated to excellence across contemporary and traditional painting genres. The Award has developed over 28 years and sits credibly within the New Zealand arts community. A high standard of work is selected to form the exhibition from nation wide entries by three pre-selection judges
For participants, the award offers professional development opportunities for artists by showcasing their practice to peers, collectors, critics, museum curators, the media and the community at large.
Presented by Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne Museum and Arts,
Our Vision
To encourage and celebrate the development of painting and drawing on a national level and reward artists who create outstanding works.
To exhibit painting and drawing to the public and provide a forum within which works can be viewed, studied and evaluated.
The 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing
Offers over $20,000 in awards.
Exhibition opens : 16 February 2019
Entries closed for 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award (1st December 2018)
Record Entries
(Posted - 8th December : 2018)
Judges may have their work cut out for them as 500 digital entries were received and registered at the close of entries, midnight on 1st December 2018 for the 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award – Painting and Drawing.
Preliminary Judges; Ane Tonga (curator/artist/writer), Andrew McLeod (artist), and previous Major Award winner Kirstin Carlin will independently score the works received. Collated scores will determine which works are selected for exhibition. Award winners will be selected from the finalist works by International Guest Judge Dr. Christopher McAuliffe before the exhibition opens in February next year.
Artists who have submitted entries will be advised of the outcome of the preliminary judging on or before Thursday 17th January 2017
Although the MMCA attracts entrants from all over New Zealand, it has special links to Whakatāne. It was started as the Shell Art Award in 1986 by Whakatāne locals, and continues to be run and exhibited here. Today, Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne Museum and Arts work together to present the nationally recognized Molly Morpeth Canaday Award and exhibition.
(Posted - 8th December : 2018)
Judges may have their work cut out for them as 500 digital entries were received and registered at the close of entries, midnight on 1st December 2018 for the 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award – Painting and Drawing.
Preliminary Judges; Ane Tonga (curator/artist/writer), Andrew McLeod (artist), and previous Major Award winner Kirstin Carlin will independently score the works received. Collated scores will determine which works are selected for exhibition. Award winners will be selected from the finalist works by International Guest Judge Dr. Christopher McAuliffe before the exhibition opens in February next year.
Artists who have submitted entries will be advised of the outcome of the preliminary judging on or before Thursday 17th January 2017
Although the MMCA attracts entrants from all over New Zealand, it has special links to Whakatāne. It was started as the Shell Art Award in 1986 by Whakatāne locals, and continues to be run and exhibited here. Today, Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne Museum and Arts work together to present the nationally recognized Molly Morpeth Canaday Award and exhibition.
Historical first for Molly Morpeth Cananday Award 2019 - Painting and Drawing: International guest judge appointed
(Media release : 3rd October 2018)
Organisers of the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award (MMCA) - Painting and Drawing today announce leading Australian art academic and critic Dr Christopher McAuliffe as Guest Judge for the 2019 edition of the competition. The appointment of an international art professional to the judging panel is a historical first for the 32-year-old award, which began its 2019 call for entries from New Zealand artists on 1 August 2018, closing 1 December.
Currently a Professor of Art in Practice-led Research at the School of Art and Design, Australian National University, Dr McAuliffe has held significant museum and academic positions since 1988, including Director University of Melbourne’s Ian Potter Museum of Art. He is an influential curator, with his most recent exhibition, Robert Smithson: Time Crystals, showing at the University of Queensland Art Museum this year. A prolific writer and critic, Dr McAuliffe has published over 130 articles, academic papers, reviews, and books, focusing primarily on Australian art.
“We chose Dr Christopher McAuliffe not only for his credentials in the art environment, which are impressive, but also for the impartiality and the unique perspective he will bring to this crucial role of Guest Judge,” says Heather Hourigan, MMCA Coordinator. “With his international and Australian experience, we are confident he will provide a fresh set of eyes to the competition.”
Winners will be selected in a two-stage judging process that has seen a rigorous revamp for the 2019 award season. Three leading art practitioners will review all entries and select the 2019 finalists: 2017 MMCA winner Kirstin Carlin; award winning artist Andrew McLeod; and Auckland based artist, curator and writer Ane Tonga sit on this 2019 preliminary judging panel. Finalists are exhibited at Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi – the Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, where Guest Judge Dr McAuliffe will select the 2019 award winners from among the works on show.
Founded by the Whakatane District Community Arts Council (Arts Whakatāne), the MMCA is one of New Zealand's longest running and most vibrant national contemporary art awards. Entries for the 2019 year for the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing opened in August this year and will close on 1 December 2018. Up for grabs by New Zealand artists–both emerging and established–is over $20,000 in awards, including the $10,000 MMCA Major Award, $4,000 Akel Shulte Award and $2,500 Craig’s Investment Partners Youth Award.
The exhibition of finalist works opens to the public on Saturday 16 February 2019 at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, closing Sunday 7th April 2019. On Sunday 17 February 2019, Guest Judge Dr Christopher McAuliffe will deliver an MMCA Judges Gallery Talk about the 2019 evaluation process, and prior to the exhibition opening.
On Thursday 14 February 2019 at 5pm, Dr McAuliffe will take to the stage at Port Ōhope Yacht Club to present a special guest lecture, “Is art for everyone?”
The 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award - Painting and Drawing is presented by Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne Museum and Arts. The Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust is the primary award sponsor.
Guest Judge Dr Christopher McAuliffe will be flown to Whakatāne from Auckland courtesy of Air Chathams.
Media Contacts:
Heather Hourigan
Coordinator - Molly Morpeth Canaday Award
mollymorpethcanadayaward@gmail.com
Victoria Sinclair
Exhibitions Coordinator – Whakatāne Museum and Arts
victoria.sinclair@whakatane.govt.nz
MMCA Background information
Founded in 1986 as the Shell Art Award by the Whakatane District Community Arts Council (Arts Whakatāne), the competition quickly gained the respect of the New Zealand art community. In 1991, the Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust joined as principal sponsor and the name of the award was changed to acknowledge their support, becoming known as the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award. Today, two awards exist under the MMCA banner, one for painting and drawing and another for 3D works. The Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust was established by Frank H. Canaday, the husband of Molly Morpeth Canaday, in Whakatāne in 1971 and is a major supporter of the arts in the region.
Organisers
Arts Whakatane and exhibition partner Whakatane Museum and Arts
Major Award Sponsor
Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust
Our sponsors
