The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists.
The foundation produces award programmes that provide recognition and money prizes to New Zealand artists working in across all art forms. This includes writers, fine artists, musicians, dancers, choreographers, theatre-makers and screen artists.
Background The concept of setting up an organisation to raise private funding for the arts was initiated by Creative New Zealand in 1997. Its chair Brian Stevenson approached Richard Cathie to chair a working party on the subject and Sir Ronald Scott was appointed consultant, with help from Gisella Carr. Early working party members and trustees included Mary, Lady Hardie Boys; Gillian, Lady Deane; Dame Jenny Gibbs; Sir Paul Reeves; Sir John Todd; Sir Miles Warren; and Sir Eion Edgar.
The foundation was incorporated as a charitable Trust in 1998 with Richard Cathie remaining as chair. Seed funding of $5m was secured from The Lottery Grants Board payable over five years and the foundation was launched in 2000.
In 2002, Simon Bowden was appointed Executive Director and in 2003 the organisation held its first awards. By 2008 the Arts Foundation had established an endowment fund of 6 million and donated $3 million to over 100 artists across arts disciplines.
In 2012, the Arts Foundation launched Boosted a crowdsourced funding platform. The Arts Foundation Awards celebrate achievement in an artists career. Donations come from Patrons of the Arts Foundation and other sources and are awarded directly to artists at the annual New Zealand Arts Awards.
Promotion of the arts is also part of the mandate of the Arts Foundation. In September 2019, the Arts Foundation launched the first New Zealand Arts Month. This campaign was supported by Creative NZ, Chartwell Trust, NZME, Phantom and Go Media.
Jessica Palalagi was appointed general manager in 2022.
Awards There is no application process for the awards. Artists are selected by an independent panel of arts peers or curators and recipients of awards are selected without their knowing they are under consideration. The Arts Foundation administers this process.
The Icon Awards, Whakamana Hiranga recognise a lifetime of achievement. Artists considered to have prominence and outstanding potential receive The Laureate Award. Artists in the early stages of their career were selected to receive a New Generation Award, and now receive a Springboard Award and mentorship from a Laureate or Icon.
In partnership, the foundation produces the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award, of $25,000NZD to assist the career of a photographer, and the Harriet Friedlander Residency, which is a residency in New York valued at $80,000NZD.
The Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award was presented for the first time in 2011. The award is presented every two years to a children's book illustrator with published work of a high standard and includes a cash gift of $15,000.
In 2021, The Arts Foundation honoured artist and Māori Arts curator Nigel Borell with the "A Moment In Time He Momo" award.
The Arts Foundation also administers the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship awarding a residency to Menton in France for a writer.
Icon Award
The Arts Foundation of New Zealand established the Icon Awards as a means to celebrate and acknowledge New Zealand art-makers who have achieved the highest standards of artistic expression.
Limited to a living circle of 20, Icons are pioneers and leaders from all arts disciplines, living and working around the world. To date, 41 artists have been acknowledged as Icons. In 2003, eight artists were honoured, followed by one in 2004, seven in 2005, five in 2007, five in 2011, five in 2013, two in 2015, five in 2018, and three in 2020.
Each Icon receives a medallion and pin designed by sculptor John Edgar. The recipient is gifted the pin in perpetuity, while the medallion is presented to a successor at a future Icon Award ceremony following the artist's death.
In 2008 the Arts Foundation began commissioning oral histories from Icons. In time, the foundation hopes that an oral history will be deposited with the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington covering the life of each Icon artist. This will ensure the artists' stories are on public record and available for future generations.
In October 2020, multiple allegations of historical sexual abuse were made against composer Jack Body, who had received the award in 2015 shortly before his death, by a number of his former students. In November 2020, the allegations were described by Victoria University as "very credible", and the Arts Foundation announced that it had suspended Body's status as an Arts Icon while it "awaited further information". In January 2022, following a formal apology by the university to these students, the Arts Foundation confirmed that his award was no longer recognised by the organisation.
Living Icons Name Portrait Year of award Age Discipline 1 Patricia Grace 2005 Writer 2 Dame Gillian Weir 2011 Organist 3 Sir Peter Jackson 2011 Filmmaker 4 Jacqueline Fahey 2013 Painter 5 Dame Kiri Te Kanawa 2013 Opera singer 6 Albert Wendt 2018 Writer 7 Bill Manhire 2018 Writer 8 Dame Gillian Whitehead 2018 Composer 9 Joy Cowley 2020 Writer 10 Sandy Adsett 2020 Visual artist 11 Fatu Feu'u 2022 Visual artist 12 Dame Jane Campion 2022 Film director / writer 13 Dame Robin White 2022 Artist 14 Sir Pita Sharples 2024 Kapa haka, mau rākau 15 Neil Finn 2024 Musician 16 Witi Ihimaera 2026 Writer 17 Darcy Nicholas 2026 Painter and sculptor 18 Ann Robinson 2026 Glass artist 19 Lynda Topp (Topp Twins) 2026 Musician and comedian 20 Vacant
Deceased Icons Name Portrait Year of award Date of death Discipline Maurice Gee 2003 Novelist Len Castle 2003 Potter Janet Frame 2003 Writer Ralph Hotere 2003 Painter Milan Mrkusich 2003 Visual artist Diggeress Te Kanawa 2003 Weaver Hone Tuwhare 2003 Poet Sir Miles Warren 2003 Architect Sir Donald McIntyre 2004 Opera singer Peter Godfrey 2005 Musician Alexander Grant 2005 Ballet dancer Pakaariki Harrison 2005 Carver Russell Kerr 2005 Choreographer Margaret Mahy 2005 Writer Donald Munro 2005 Opera singer Raymond Boyce 2007 Theatre designer Don Peebles 2007 Painter Don Selwyn 2007 Actor Arnold Manaaki Wilson 2007 Sculptor Ans Westra 2007 Photographer Barbara Anderson 2011 Writer Marti Friedlander 2011 Photographer Greer Twiss 2011 Sculptor Sir Ian Athfield 2013 Architect Geoff Murphy 2013 Filmmaker Cliff Whiting 2013 Artist and heritage advocate Jim Allen 2015 Visual artist Billy Apple 2018 Visual artist Fred Graham 2018 Carver and sculptorSir Sam Neill 2020 ActorJools Topp (Topp Twins) 2026 Musician and comedian
Laureate Award Initially there were five artists honoured annually at the New Zealand Arts Awards ceremony receiving a Laureate Award of a NZ$50,000 grant each and a commissioned sculpture by Terry Stringer. No awards were awarded in 2018, and in 2019 the amount of the prize changed to NZ$25,000, new partnerships and awards were introduced and the Laureate Award will be given to up to ten practising artists.
Named awards Established in 2019:
The Theresa Gattung Female Arts Practitioners Award (awarded every year) The Burr/ Tatham Trust Award (awarded every second year) Gaylene Preston Documentary Film Makers Award (NZ$30,000 awarded every second year)
Established in 2020:
The Sir Roger Hall Theatre Award (NZ$25,000 awarded every second year, $5,000 awarded to more people the other year as Out of the Limelight awards) The My Art Visual Arts Award (awarded every year) Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award
Laureate Artists are New Zealanders practicing in any arts discipline, located anywhere in the world. The criteria has changed away from the terminology of 'best' which is subjective in the arts, instead focusing on the significance of work and the impact on New Zealand. The Arts Foundation website states: Arts Foundation Laureate Awards celebrate and empower New Zealand’s most outstanding practising artists – artists whose practise also has an impact on New Zealand.Laureates are able to use their award in any way they choose, for example, in the creation of new works, or the freedom to concentrate time and resources into the development of their career.
Recipients
2000 Briar Grace-Smith, Theatre Elizabeth Knox, Literature Peter Peryer, Visual Arts Gillian Whitehead, Music Douglas Wright, Dance
2001 Phil Dadson, Visual Arts Kate De Goldi, Literature Michael Parekowhai, Visual Arts Gaylene Preston, Film/Moving Image
2002 Warwick Freeman, Visual Arts Shona McCullagh, Dance Don McGlashan, Music Helen Medlyn, Music Jacob Rajan, Theatre
2003 Jenny Bornholdt, Literature Neil Dawson, Visual Arts Michael Hurst, Theatre Humphrey Ikin, Visual Arts John Psathas, Music
2004 Barry Barclay, Film/Moving Image Jack Body, Music Derek Lardelli, Visual Arts John Pule, Visual Arts Ann Robinson, Visual Arts
2005 Neil Ieremia, Dance Bill Manhire, Literature Julia Morison, Visual Arts Simon O'Neill, Music Ronnie van Hout, Visual Arts
2006 Alun Bollinger, Film/Moving Image Alastair Galbraith, Music Oscar Kightley, Theatre John Reynolds, Visual Arts Ian Wedde, Literature
2007 Michael Houstoun, Music Sarah-Jayne Howard, Dance Colin McColl, Theatre Moana Maniapoto, Music Merilyn Wiseman, Visual Arts
2008 Shane Cotton, Visual Arts Ngila Dickson, Visual Arts George Henare, Theatre Lloyd Jones, Literature Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Music
2009 Lyonel Grant, Visual Arts Witi Ihimaera, Literature Chris Knox, Music Richard Nunns, Music Anne Noble, Visual Arts
2010 Stuart Devenie, Theatre Michael Parmenter, Dance Leon Narbey, Film/Moving Image Gareth Farr, Music John Parker, Visual Arts
2011 Whirimako Black, Music Fiona Pardington, Visual Arts Emily Perkins, Literature Lemi Ponifasio, Dance Leanne Pooley, Film/Moving Image
2012 Ruia Aperahama, Music Tony de Lautour, Visual Arts Rachel House, Theatre Gregory O'Brien, Literature Fiona Samuel, Theatre
2013 Laurence Aberhart, Visual Arts Jane Campion, Film/Moving Image Dean Parker, Theatre Damien Wilkins, Literature Megan Wraight, landscape architect
2014 Cliff Curtis, Film Lisa Reihana, Visual Arts Geoff Cochrane, Literature Ross Harris, Music Charles Koroneho, Dance
2015 Delaney Davidson – Music Sara Brodie – Theatre / Dance Wetini Mitai-Ngatai – Performance / Cultural Entrepreneurship Daniel Belton – Music / Dance / Film Lisa Walker – Visual Art
2016 Eleanor Catton – writer Lyell Cresswell – composer Dylan Horrocks – cartoonist, graphic novelist, writer Peter Robinson – visual artist Taika Waititi – filmmaker
2017 Niki Caro – director, filmmaker Jemaine Clement – actor, writer, comedian, multi-instrumentalist Ross McCormack – choreographer, contemporary dancer Rob Ruha – haka soul musician Robin White – painter, printmaker
2019 Sima Urale – filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly – filmmaker Solomon Mortimer – photographer Laurence Fearnley – writer Kris Sowersby – typographer Louise Potiki Bryant – choreographer Ruth Paul – writer, illustrator Val Smith – performance artist Coco Solid – mixed-media artist Yvonne Todd – photographer
2020 Yuki Kihara – interdisciplinary artist Ariana Tikao – singer, composer, taonga puoro player Moss Te Ururangi Patterson – choreographer, artistic director Ahi Karunaharan – actor, writer, director, producer FAFSWAG – interdisciplinary arts Shayne Carter – musician, author Tusiata Avia – poet, writer, performer
2021 Nigel Borell – art curator Shane Bosher – actor, theatre director Harry Culy – photographer Brett Graham – sculptor Florian Habicht – film director Rangi Kipa – carver, illustrator Nina Nawalowalo – theatre director Maisey Rika – musician Vasanti Unka – writer, illustrator
2022