Miles Art Awards 2016, now taking entries

Artist, writer and curator Ane Tonga is this year's Miles Art Awards judge. Photo/Janet Lilo

Entry to the Miles Art Awards, Tauranga Art Gallery's fourth biennial prize and exhibition, is now open.

This year the main prize had been increased to $5000.

Local artists were invited to submit an original artwork that they had created in the past 24 months.

The awards were open to artists that were 18 years and over and lived in the Bay of Plenty region, which included Tauranga, The Western Bay, Rotorua, Kawarau, Whakatane and Opotiki Districts.

Entry forms were available online or at Tauranga Art Gallery. They could be collected from other Tauranga art outlets such as The Incubator and Creative Tauranga.

The awards had been named after Venetta Miles, who was an original donor to the Tauranga Art Gallery Trust.

Her generosity and foresight was remembered through the exhibition and award.

In previous years, Tauranga Art Gallery received more than 100 entries and the expectations were that there will be even more this year.

"This is an exciting opportunity for our local artists to demonstrate the breadth of talent we have on offer in Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty region," said gallery director Karl Chitham.

This year's judge was Ane Tonga had recently been appointed as lead exhibitions curator at Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa.

Previously, she has held curatorial roles at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, City Gallery Wellington and the Dowse Art Museum.

The Miles Art Awards Exhibition would be open to the public from August 13 and October 16 at Tauranga Art Gallery on the corner of Wharf and Willow Streets, central Tauranga.

The Miles Art Awards:

Miles Supreme Award: $5000
Friends of the Gallery Award: $500
The Mayor's Award for Emerging Artists: $250
Ethel MacMillan Award: $250
UNO. Magazine People's Choice Award: Artist Profile in UNO. Magazine
Entries close at 4.30pm on Monday, July 11, 2016.
Exhibition dates: 13 August - 16 October, 2016
More information and entry form on www.artgallery.org.nz