Arts Foundation Award recipients for 2016

Next generation of internationally acclaimed talent among the Arts Foundation Award recipients for 2016
Under strict embargo until Monday 14 November

Now in its sixteenth year at the helm of art philanthropy in New Zealand, the Arts Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2016 New Zealand Arts Awards. This year’s Awards feature eleven incredible New Zealand artists with major international influence.
From an extraordinary talent pool, eleven artists, two philanthropists and four arts organisations have been chosen as the 2016 recipients of the coveted Laureate and New Generation awards, Harriet Friedlander New York Residency, the Award for Patronage and the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship. 

The Arts Awards enable us to recognise some of New Zealand’s most extraordinary creators in front of their families, peers and country, says the Arts Foundation’s Executive Director, Simon Bowden.

“The national and international achievements of the 2016 recipients are extraordinary. This is why it is important for New Zealanders to celebrate and recognise these artists.”

As a reflection of the Arts Foundation’s commitment to arts in New Zealand, a total sum of $480,000 will be awarded to the recipients at the New Zealand Arts Awards event night on Wednesday 23 November. With the majority of the funds awarded on the evening being generated by private donations, the Awards are also a celebration of philanthropic support for the arts. 

It is always exciting notifying the recipients. They are not aware that a panel of experts is even considering them for an award, so the news comes as a complete surprise, says Bowden.

 “The awards are no-strings-attached, leaving artists free to use the funds exactly how they please. Some artists have credited the award for enabling the creation of their most celebrated work, others are thankful for the award coming at a time when their washing machine needs replacing."

The awards are the highest value, multi-discipline arts awards in New Zealand, and since the inaugural Laureates received their awards in 2000, the Arts Foundation has awarded life-changing monetary and honorary awards to over 190 of New Zealand’s finest artists. By the end of this year, the Arts Foundation will have awarded New Zealand artists $5.2million. 

2016 Laureate Award Recipients
Each Laureate Award includes a cash award of $50,000:

Eleanor Catton – Writer
Lyell Cresswell – Composer
Dylan Horrocks – Cartoonist/Graphic Novelist/Writer
Peter Robinson – Visual Artist
Taika Waititi – Film Maker

About the Laureate Award:
The Laureate Award is an investment in excellence across a range of art forms for an artist with prominence and outstanding potential for future growth.  Their work is rich but their richest work still lies ahead of them.  The award should recognise a moment in the artist’s career that will allow them to have their next great success.

2016 New Generation Award Recipients
Each New Generation Award includes a cash award of $25,000:

Parris Goebel - Choreographer
André Hemer – Visual Artist
Alex Taylor - Composer

About the Award:
New Generation artists are the hot shots, the ones to watch, and the ones who have an X-factor that sets them apart from their peers. They have assured potential. Their work is exciting. They are independent, individual and show outstanding promise. They also display a depth of thinking and consistency that gives their work strength.

Harriet Friedlander New York Residency
The residency enables an artist(s) to live in New York for as long as $80,000 lasts them:

Chris Pryor and Miriam Smith – Film Makers

About the Residency
Michael and Jason Friedlander asked the Arts Foundation to assist with the selection and promotion of an artist to receive up to $80,000 to have a New York experience every two years. The Residency is being made possible by a legacy gifted by Harriet Friedlander, who was a dedicated supporter of the arts. She also loved New York. She believed that any young artist exposed to the city would learn and grow in unimaginable ways.

2016 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellow

Kate Camp - Poet/Writer

About the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship
For the past forty-six years, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship has enabled a selected New Zealand writer to live for up to six months in Menton, France. There, they have access to the writing room in Villa Isola Bella where one of New Zealand's most famous writers, Katherine Mansfield, once lived. 

Award for Patronage Recipients

John and Jo Gow – Philanthropists 

The Award for Patronage Recipients are given $20,000 to distribute to artists or arts organisations of their choice to celebrate the occasion of the award. All recipients to date have chosen to donate $20,000 of their own so they can give away $40,000 to artists, organisations or projects of their choice:

Jon and Jo's chosen donation recipients are:

•    The Big Idea
•    Tautai 
•    Q Theatre
•    Sculpture On The Gulf
-ENDS-

© Scoop Media