People’s Choice Winner Announced For ZAFAA24

Now in its eighth year, the Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards exhibition presented by The Zonta Club of Ashburton in partnership with the Ashburton Art Gallery showcases the works of emerging and mid-career female artists based in Waitaha Canterbury. The award seeks to raise the status of women artists working in the wider Canterbury area and acknowledges excellence in emerging and mid-career artists as well as providing a platform for the younger generation.

This year, 35 finalists were selected from 60 entries for the Premier Award, and 26 entries were featured in the Young Generation Award category, for those aged 16-20 years. Since this year’s exhibition opening on March 01, visitors have been voting for their favourite work from the selection of finalists to win our People’s Choice Award.

The winner of this year’s People’s Choice Award is Hazel Rae for her work Voyage, which stood out as a clear favourite among the 350 votes that were cast. This is the second year in a row that Hazel has won the People’s Choice Award, after her painting Suits won the award in 2023. Voyage is a portrait of Hazel’s friend’s grandparents. Rather than following the conventions of traditional portraiture, Hazel has embellished the paintings with motifs informed by personal stories, aiming to narrate the couple’s individual personalities as well as their combined life story. Hazel is currently studying at Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury. She will be awarded a prize of $100 for winning our People’s Choice Award. Hazel stated: “I was very surprised to find I had received the people's choice award for the second time. I am humbled and so pleased that the public have enjoyed viewing my work.”

The ZAFAA awards exhibition will be on display until 14 April 2024, allowing time for visitors to view Hazel's winning work, as well as the works of our Premier Award winner Marie Porter, our Young Generation Award winner Jenny Wang, and all of our other fantastic finalists.

The awards exhibition is delivered through a partnership between the Zonta Club of Ashburton and the Ashburton Art Gallery, and generously supported by the following local organisations:

Zonta Club of Ashburton, CNZ Creative Communities Grant, Barker’s Foodstore & Eatery, Forsyth Barr, ANZ Bank, Bushey Park Trust, Everist Gilchrist Lawyers, Straight 8 Estate Wines, Scorpio Books, Samantha Rose Flowers, Kate Murney, Terrace Croft, Cates Grain and Seed, and Rosebank Lifecare.

Exhibition Details:

ZAFAA24

Opening | 01 March | 7pm

Exhibition | 02 March – 14 April 2024

Jo Burzynska, Scents Take up the Ringing

Opening | 01 March | 7pm

Exhibition | 02 March – 21 April 2024

Gallery Hours: 

Open Daily 10am – 4pm

Open Wednesday 10am – 7pm

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