Judge announced for 2026 Rotorua Museum Art Awards
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa is delighted to announce the appointment of highly regarded New Zealand Art Gallery Director, Julie Catchpole, as judge for the 2026 Rotorua Museum Art Awards.
Julie recently concluded an exceptional 17-year career at the helm of The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū (Nelson) when she announced her retirement last November.
“It’s a great honour to be asked to judge the Rotorua Museum Art Awards. These Awards are a wonderful opportunity for artists, whether established or aspiring, to get their work out in front of the public, and with the extra possibility of receiving a generous award plus the recognition and encouragement that goes with it”, explains Mrs Catchpole.
Julie appreciates the connection between the awards and the Rotorua Museum redevelopment better than most as one of Julie’s most significant achievements in Nelson was spearheading The Suter’s award-winning redevelopment.
Proceeds from the sale of the Rotorua Museum Art Awards artworks will support the exhibition development project for the re-opening of Rotorua Museum.
“I’m excited about the contribution that the Art Award exhibitions will be making towards the long-awaited reopening of the Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa. Having been involved with the redevelopment of The Suter and witnessing visitors quadruple in number after re-opening, I am rather biased about the value a museum and gallery can bring to a community,” says Mrs Catchpole.
Prior roles include Director of Te Manawa, a combined art gallery, museum and science centre in Palmerston North, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, The Dowse Art Museum which followed Julie’s first job at the former National Art Gallery (now part of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa). She has also taught Art History and Museum Studies for Massey university and has lost count of the number of exhibitions she has been involved in developing, curating or selecting for over the years.
Director, Museum & Heritage, Stewart Brown, is pleased to confirm Julie as judge because of her extensive experience in the New Zealand art world.
“Julie will bring knowledge from across many disciplines to the judging role. This is important due to the wide array of media that make up our entries from across the Bay of Plenty”, explains Mr Brown.
“It is also important to have a judge who is from outside the district to ensure the blind judging process is unbiased,”
Entries for the 2026 Rotorua Museum Art Awards close 5pm on Monday 12 January 2026, with completed works to be received by Monday 19 January 2026.
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.
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.
As well as judging the awards and selecting the artworks for the Finalist Exhibition, Julie will be giving a judges talk the day after the Finalist Exhibition opening. Taking place in the exhibition at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre on Thursday 5 February 2026 (11am – 12.30pm), this free talk will offer a unique insight to the judge’s decisions during the selection process.
Click here for more information about the awards
