We are feeling extremely privileged (and excited) to announce that the inaugural Lead Judge for the Stuff Art Aotearoa Gold Award for Art Excellence is highly regarded, Karl Chitham! Karl is the current Director of The Dowse, one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary art galleries in Lower Hutt, Wellington, and a 2023 recipient of an ONZM for his services to the arts. In this selection, it was very important for us to highlight our community interests, which is something Karl is equally passionate about. The expertise he will bring to this role is second to none, and we are looking forward to observing the adjudication process this year at Art Shows Across Aotearoa.
The Gold Award (sponsored by Stuff Media) will run progressively across our four shows this year, with four finalists being selected by the end of October, and an overall winner announced soon after. Karl will lead four duos of different judges - drawn from the four show locations (Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Queenstown.) These additional judges will be named during our art show season prior to each of our art shows commencing – watch this space! Each finalist plus two runners-up will be announced on each of our four Opening Nights.
We have already had many fine artists from all over Aotearoa enter this award, (applications are still open for Auckland and Queenstown) judging is going to be no small feat! The award entries will be exhibited for sale at our shows - make sure you check the Shows tab on our website to see when we are bringing our show near you.
Karl Chitham has been involved in a number of awards including as convenor of the Rydal Art Prize, as judge of the National Contemporary Art Awards, and has been on the selection panel for the New Zealand Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role as this year’s Lead Judge.
Read more about Karl here and come back next week for more Words of Art!
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