The Arts Foundation celebrates and increases the impact of New Zealand artists with financial awards. Understand the selection process for Arts Foundation Awards.
Each of our awards has a different selection process. Scroll down for more information about each award and how recipients are selected.
Selection Process
The Foundation is abandoning our previous Laureate focus of seeking to award ‘the best’ New Zealand artists. The Foundation acknowledges that while awarding the best may be possible in sport, artistic ability is subjectively assessed and has a longer life-cycle. Therefore, the Foundation will focus on where the Laureate Award honour and/or financial component will have the most positive impact on an artist and New Zealand.
Partnership Laureate Awards, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award, the Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award, and the Harriet Friedlander New York Residency have their own selection process. Other Laureates will be selected in the process outlined below.
Please note, it is not possible to apply for Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Awards.
We’re looking for artists who:
We want the award have an impact on two of the following three possibilities:
Laureate Criteria
The Laureate Awards are for practicing New Zealand artists, working anywhere in the world, with significant achievements (for their stage of career) and the potential to continue as high achieving artists, who are:
Laureate Selection Guidelines
A panel of seven multi-disciplinary artists will be chosen to advise Arts Foundation Trustees on selection.
The selection panel will assess artists based on the following criteria:
Of the eight Laureates chosen by the selection panel, consideration will be given to diversity of recipients each year, across the eight recipients.
Laureate Selection Process
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While the inaugural Laureate receiving the Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts award will be announced alongside the rest of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate recipients in 2022, the selection process is unique. After 12 months of consultation with the queer arts communities to develop this process, a roadmap has been developed as follows:
The Criteria
The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate awards are for practicing New Zealand artists, working anywhere in the world, with significant achievements (for their stage of career) and the potential to carry on as high achieving artists.
We’re looking for artists who:
We want the award have an impact on two of the following three possibilities:
The Queer Laureate Award will follow the same criteria – an award for an outstanding artist whose arts practise has had impact on the queer communities. The artist has to fulfill the below criteria:
The criteria for this award may change and grow over time.
Please note: we acknowledge that there is no single umbrella term to encompass the LGBTQIA+ communities. We also recognise that its use as a positive and reclaimed term isn’t for everyone. We use it in this context as an inclusive term to reference those who fall outside of cisgender or heterosexual identities – not as a pejorative. We use it here in celebration, with respect and love.
Selection Criteria
A Springboard artist is someone who…
Things you need to know.
There are some awards that have specific criteria:
Selection Criteria
To be eligible for the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship you must:
The recipients of the Fellowship will be required to:
We would also be grateful if you
What we are trying to achieve
The primary aim of the residency is for the writer to work on a project in a new environment, and to complete, or make substantial progress with, a body of writing during the residency.
Other goals include:
How we select
Your application will be assessed by an independent panel chaired by a non-voting member of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship Advisory Committee of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
The selection panel will assess which application best demonstrates one or more of the following: