Rotorua Museum Art Awards returns in 2026
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Rotorua Museum, in association with Friends of Rotorua Museum, is delighted to announce the return of the Rotorua Museum Art Awards early next year, after a break of seven years.
Bay of Plenty artists have until 12 January 2026 to enter and be in with a chance to win from a prize pool of $18,000, the largest since the awards were re-started in 2013.
Alex Wilson, Group Manager, Community Experience, Rotorua Lakes Council, explains the importance of running the awards even while the Museum is closed for strengthening and redevelopment.
“These coveted awards aim to inspire local artists and really highlight the wealth of talent in the Bay of Plenty region”, says Mrs Wilson.
“The exhibitions give artists the opportunity to showcase their talents locally and proceeds from the sale of the artworks will support the exhibition development project for the re-opening of Rotorua Museum.”
“We are incredibly grateful for the backing of our sponsors in making these awards possible. Friends of Rotorua Museum, Lockwood Buildings, Watts & Hughes, Coombes Johnston BMW and Rotorua Trust have all sponsored the awards for 2026.”
This year there is $18,000 in prizes up for grabs: the Rotorua Museum Supreme Award prize of $15,000; the Lockwood Youth Award prize of $1,000; the Watts & Hughes Innovation Award prize of $1,000; and finally, the Coombes Johnston BMW People’s Choice Award which gives $500 to the winning artist and $500 to a randomly drawn voter who has taken the time to vote for their favourite artwork in the Finalist Exhibition.
This is only the second ever Lockwood Youth Award which was initially introduced in 2019 to foster a passion for the arts and give confidence to young artists entering competitions. To be eligible for the Youth Award artists need to be 18 years or under on the exhibition opening date of Wednesday 4 February 2026. They also receive a discount on entry fees.
Entries are limited to a maximum of two works per artist with entries closing at 5pm on Monday 12 January 2026. Entry conditions, along with the entry form, are available on Rotorua Museum’s website (www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz/artawards). Artists will need to deliver completed works by Monday 19 January 2026.
The conditions for entry include:
• Artists must be resident or work in the Bay of Plenty
• The work can be any medium, excluding digital/moving image
• The work must:
o Be a one-off original and not part of an edition
o Not infringe upon NZ copyright laws
o Not be AI generated and or have any AI components
o Be the sole work of the artist entering (unless it is listed as a collaboration)
o Have been created within the 24 months prior to and including the entry close date
o Never have been exhibited previously
All awards, except for the Coombes Johnston BMW People’s Choice Award, will be announced at a gala awards evening on Wednesday 4 February 2026.
The Finalist Exhibition will be open to the public at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre from 5 February until 1 March 2026, 10am – 4pm. The Salon des Refusés, for works not selected for the Finalist Exhibition, will be open over the same period and located at the Lockwood Show Home Village.
Visitors and locals will be able to view the two exhibitions for free and have the opportunity to purchase an artwork for their own home to support the fundraising efforts towards the Museum’s exhibition development.
Local artists who have won previous Supreme Awards include; 2019 – Iwi Le Comte, 2017 – Kereama Taepa, 2015 – Mandy Hague and 2013 – Kylie Tiuka.
Director, Museum & Heritage, Stewart Brown, is looking forward to seeing the high quality of entries come in.
“Every time we are impressed by the quality and creativeness of our local artists. After a bit of gap from the last exhibition, we can’t wait to see what our talented region produces this year!”, explains Mr Brown.
For more information about the awards and how to enter click here
Image credit: Iwi Le Comte. Te Ipukarea, 2019. Ōnewa stone, pearl inlay. Rotorua Museum Art Awards Supreme Award 2019. Photograph by Natascha Hartzuiker
