The Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui is delighted to announce the recipients of residencies at Tylee Cottage for the period September 2018 – January 2020.

There were three separate and distinct residencies on offer and for the first time it was decided to split the third residency for a photographic / new media artist between two applicants who were both outstanding. These two artists have each accepted a three month residency at Tylee Cottage with the Sarjeant Gallery making up the shortfall in funding for the extra time period.

The successful applicants are:

RESIDENCY 1: September, 2018 – January, 2019. For a female painter aged 35+ years.

Was awarded to Christchurch-based painter Julia Holden, during her time in Whanganui Holden will be working on two painting projects. The selection panel were impressed with Holden’s innovative approach to painting that cross pollinates painting with performance, photography and audio elements. In addition to the residency Holden is also the recipient of the Lilian Ida Smith Award valued at $5 000.

RESIDENCY 2: February – June, 2019. For a craft/object-based practitioner

The gallery is pleased that Annie Mackenzie will be the first weaver to be in residence at Tylee Cottage. Wellington-based Mackenzie was awarded the residency for an engaging proposal that will explore textiles as depicted by Edith Collier and the history of textiles produced in the Whanganui woolen mills.

RESIDENCY 3: For a photographic/new media artist

The standard of applicants across the board was extremely high but particularly strong for this residency, a decision was made to split this residency between two highly respected and innovative artists.

Marie Shannon: August – October, 2019

Jae Hoon Lee: November, 2019 – January, 2020

Both Shannon and Lee have an impressive track record of exhibiting and are both included in major public art collections in New Zealand and overseas. In 2017 a major survey exhibition of Shannon’s work ‘Rooms Found Only in the Home’ was developed by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and is touring nationally.

Sarjeant Gallery’s Curator and Public Programmes Manager Greg Donson said: “The standard of applicants for each of the residencies was extremely high which made the selection process extremely difficult. We are heartened that after thirty years of running the programme it continues to attract a diverse range of applicants and allows us to provide artists with a unique opportunity to develop a new body of work. The work that is generated from the residency is a key part of the Gallery’s programming and a vital way for us to support the development of innovative new work and showcase the best of contemporary practice being produced in this country.” 

The Tylee Cottage Artist-in-Residence programme is generously supported by Creative New Zealand’s Toi Uru Kahikatea (Arts Development) Investment Programme.

The Tylee Cottage artist in residence programme is run by the Sarjeant Gallery and was established in 1986. To date over fifty artists have participated in the programme including many who have gone on to become some of New Zealand’s most accomplished visual arts practitioners, and several who thereafter have decided to call Whanganui home.

This latest round of artist submissions was called for in late March and the application period ended on May 25. Close to 50 applications were received for the three residencies on offer.

The residency programme is an opportunity for an artist with New Zealand residency currently living outside of Whanganui, to develop a body of work whilst living financially unencumbered at Tylee Cottage. The cottage is provided rent free and with maintenance, electricity, phone and internet covered by the Sarjeant Gallery in its role as a cultural facility of the Whanganui District Council. A stipend of $4 000 a month is paid thanks to the generous support of Creative NZ.

The aim is that as a result of the residency a body of work will be developed that will culminate in a solo exhibition at the Sarjeant Gallery and upon negotiation, a work produced from the residency will enter into the Sarjeant Collection.

The Tylee Cottage was built in 1853 and is one of Whanganui’s oldest homes. It is named after Thomas Tylee, a Whanganui pioneer who was in charge of the commissariat for the 65th Regiment. The cottage was originally situated in Wilson Street, Whanganui before being moved to its present location in 1982 and restored.

Lilian Ida Smith Award 2018

In 2018 the $5 000 Lilian Ida Smith Award is additional to RESIDENCY 1 to acknowledge the 125 year anniversary of women gaining the vote in New Zealand and the global suffrage movement.

Lilian Ida Smith 1920 – 1983 was a Whanganui resident who in her will instructed her estate to be divided into three equal parts to establish trusts to assist people aged 35 years and over to develop and further their interest in painting, writing and teaching music. The Sarjeant Gallery was charged with administering the painting strand of the bequest and in 1993 established the Lilian Ida Smith Award. An accomplished artist herself, sadly she never exhibited and her desire to support someone over 35 was in recognition of the constraints her father, Vivian Smith, faced in response to his experimental output as a painter. Since 1993 the award has been offered three times with the last time being in 2003. 

For any further information or to arrange an interview with Curator and Public Programmes Manager Greg Donson please contact Sarjeant Gallery Relationships Officer Jaki Arthur on jaki.arthur@sarjeant.org.nz or 027 577 4923.