Time to get entries in for Fieldays No 8 Wire award

This year's Fieldays No 8 Wire National Art Award judge is gallery director and art writer Andrew Clifford

Entries are now open for the Fieldays No 8 Wire National Art Award, with revised entry criteria to encourage more artists to take on the unique challenge the award offers.

The annual award, managed by Waikato Museum and partnered by Farmlands Co-operative, invokes the classic Kiwi DIY attitude in the creation of sculptural artworks made from predominantly No 8 wire along with other agricultural products.

The winner receives $7000, with prizes of $1000 and $500 for the second and third placegetters, respectively. The award culminates in a month-long exhibition at Hamilton's ArtsPost Galleries & Shop, and selected finalists will also be invited to have their work displayed at Fieldays, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018.

This year's judge is gallery director and art writer Andrew Clifford. Mr Clifford is the inaugural director of Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery in Titirangi, Auckland, and was previously curator at the University of Auckland's Gus Fisher Gallery. He has been a judge for the Wallace Art Awards, a juror for the Walters Prize, and a selector for the Arts Foundation Awards.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society president Peter Carr says they are delighted to have Andrew Clifford judging the No 8 Wire National Art Award as part of the 50th Fieldays event.

"Andrew's excellent work as the initiating director at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery is well respected and his appointment is fitting in the society's very special anniversary year," says Mr Carr. "We very much look forward to both the overall entries and the announcement of the award winners."

In previous years, the entry criteria have called for the artworks to feature a minimum 50 per cent No 8 wire. Reflecting the way the future of farming is changing, the awards will now allow artists to use a wider range of agricultural products, with the dominant visual and structural feature of the artwork to be No 8 wire or wire of a similar gauge.

Waikato Museum director Cherie Meecham says the removal of the 50 per cent No 8 wire condition expands what artists are now able to create.

"The variety and intricacy of what can be created through the manipulation of No 8 wire never ceases to amaze me," she says.

Entries close 1pm Friday, April 13. Finalists notified week of April 16. Winners announced/award ceremony Thursday, May 10 . Exhibition on Friday, May 11 to Monday, June 11at ArtsPost Galleries & Shop, 120 Victoria St, Hamilton. Open daily 10am to 5pm.