Sarah Ziessen’s Of Innocence and Experience, which won the Supreme Award at the Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2026. The work is made from hand-thrown porcelain, plastic pellets and wood. Photo / Supplied
Sarah Ziessen’s Of Innocence and Experience, which won the Supreme Award at the Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2026. The work is made from hand-thrown porcelain, plastic pellets and wood. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua artist Sarah Ziessen has won the Supreme Award at the Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2026.
Ziessen is taking home $15,000 for her work Of Innocence and Experience.
She was selected from a record 201 entries - the largest field in the event’s history - with the awards returningthis year after a seven-year break.
The winners were announced this evening at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre, where nearly 350 people attended the exhibition opening.
Run by Rotorua Museum in association with Friends of Rotorua Museum, the awards aim to inspire local creatives, even while the museum remains closed for strengthening and redevelopment.
The art looked “innocent and pure”, Catchpole said, but the “sand” was plastic and the buckets clay.
“The mediums really are the message here.”
A blind judging process was used to choose winners and finalists. Catchpole said there was a variety of entries, making her job “rewarding and challenging”.
The Watts and Hughes Innovation in Art Award was shared between Karen Hansen-Daniels for Primordial and artist duo Andrew and Robyn Leary for Lightning Man, with the prize split between the two winners - $500 each.
Andrew and Robyn Leary’s Lightning Man, which shared the Watts and Hughes Innovation in Art Award, was made from dichroic glass. Photo / Supplied
Catchpole said Lightning Man, made from dichroic glass, appeared to shift and change depending on the viewer’s position and how the light fell, “magically” coming alive.
“The artists are pioneers in the development of this medium in New Zealand.”
Catchpole described the abstract work of Primordial "like a geothermal landscape, with steam rising through manuka in the background, reflecting its creation".
Karen Hansen-Daniel's Primordial, which shared the Watts and Hughes Innovation in Art Award, was made on silk using hawthorn dye, iron and geothermal burial. Photo / Supplied
The Lockwood Youth Award and $1000 prize went to Dulcie Copeland for The Shape of the Surface, a mixed-media piece combining acrylic paint and cyanotype photography.
Catchpole said the work had a sense of humour and reflected the perspective of a young artist.
Dulcie Copeland’s The Shape of the Surface, which won the Lockwood Youth Award at the Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2026. The mixed-media work combines acrylic paint and cyanotype photography. Photo / Supplied
Four artists also received highly commended awards: Paora Tiatoa, Indigo La Grouw, Vendela Patrick and Tamaora Walker.
A total of 83 works, including the eight award winners, are on display at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre until March 1.
Rotorua Lakes Council group manager community experience Alex Wilson said the record number of entries showed the strength of the region’s creative community.
All works were for sale, with commissions supporting the reopening of Rotorua Museum, and the public could also vote for the People’s Choice Award during the exhibition.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.
