Friday 24th Oct - Sunday 2nd Nov 2025
Te Waka Kura O Mohua Auditorium, Takaka
BAY ART is an annual exhibition and awards event run by the Golden Bay Community Arts Council with the aim to encourage and recognise the diverse range of high quality artwork produced by amateur and professional artists and artisans resident in Golden Bay. Attracting nationally recognised judges and featuring a number of categories BAY ART has been running since 1987 and is a huge favourite on the local arts and cultural calendar, regularly attracting over 100 entries and many hundreds of visitors to the region over exhibition week.
YOUNG@ART is a non-competitive exhibition for Golden Bay young folk aged 5 - 17 years which runs in conjunction with BAY ART, with the option for youth aged 12 - 17 years to enter the judged BAY ART event in the Youth Award category.
Important Dates:
Entries Close: Wednesday 22nd October @ 5.30pm
Delivery of Entries: Wednesday 22nd October between 1pm and 5:30pm
Curating of Exhibition: Thursday 23rd October
Judging: Friday 24th October
Grand Opening and Prize Giving: Friday 24th October at approx. 5.00pm (doors open 4.30pm)
Exhibition Open: Saturday 25th October - Sunday 2nd November from 10am - 4pm daily
Peoples Choice Award and Closing: Sunday 2nd November at 4pm
Entries Pickup: Sunday 2nd November between 4pm - 5pm (in person)
Categories:
Two Dimensional (2D) Art: painting, printmaking, mixed media, photography, and digital art.
Three Dimensional (3D) Art: sculpture made of stone, ceramics, wood, glass, metal, mixed media, fibre art and jewellery.
* Additional category prizes awarded at judges discretion.
Important Note: Artists are responsible for creating a display system
for all free standing artworks. Digital works must be set up by artists
using their own equipment.
Levels:
General: Open to all entries.
Professional: Entry is by personal choice and not a requirement for professional artists.
Youth: Open to youth aged 12-17 years who would like to be judged for awards.
An overall winner will be chosen in each category. The prize pool (including money and gifts) will be awarded across the exhibition at the discretion of the judges and includes recognition of highly commended works.
Conditions of Entry:
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The competition is only open to current residents of Golden Bay.
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Entries must be original, completed in the last 12 months and not previously exhibited.
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There is a limit of one entry per category, per person, which may be judged or not as desired.
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All entries must be suitable for a general audience and will be accepted at our discretion.
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Entries are to be delivered to Te Waka Kura O Mohua (GBHS) Auditorium on Wednesday 22nd October between 1pm and 5.30pm.
LATE ENTRIES CANNOT BE ACCEPTED.
Exhibition Ready Requirements:
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Work must be supplied finished, dry and in a safe condition for handling (i.e. no sharp points, jagged edges etc.). If the work is very large/heavy the artist will need to provide assistance with hanging or displaying.
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If your work is an installation, you must contact us no later than one week prior to the entry date.
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2D work MUST be provided ready to hang – i.e. with hooks and cord already firmly attached. Work not ready to hang will not be exhibited.
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On a separate tag clearly write name, title of piece and category. Attach tag to string. (Tags are purely for hanging purposes and will be removed for exhibition.)
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All work MUST be collected at the end of the exhibition on Sunday 2nd November between 4pm – 5pm. Artists can arrange another person to pick up.
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Although all reasonable care will be taken Golden Bay Arts Council will not be responsible for any loss or damage to art work.
Prizes and Judging Criteria:
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An overall winner will be chosen in each category. The prize pool (including money and gifts) will be awarded across the exhibition at the discretion of the judges and includes recognition of highly commended works.
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The supreme award can be chosen from any entry.
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The people’s choice award will be awarded at the end of the exhibition.
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The judges’ decisions are final.
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Prize money is subject to change.