Mercury Bay Art Escape Scholarship awards

By Anne Bowden

The Mercury Bay Art Escape Scholarship began in 2014, and each year Janet Hoogwerf, Mercury Bay Area School art teacher, awards the scholarship to a year 12 recipient at the end of year prizegiving. In their Year 13, the scholarship recipient works with the Art Escape co-ordinator to choose 2 or 3 artists to work with during the year. They visit artists’ studios during Art Escape in March of that year to choose whom they would like to spend time with learning as an artist. With over 40 artists to choose from, this can be a difficult task, but it is a great opportunity to develop skills and see into the life of a working artist.

The recipient also gets to exhibit at the following Art Escape Exhibition, and receives a voucher from Gordon Harris art supply shop. The 2023 recipient is Emma Jones (pictured below left) who does painting and photography, while the outgoing 2022 recipients are Alex Litherland (self-portrait below right) and Sebastian Ross, who will be receiving their vouchers.

I am very pleased to be the Art Escape Scholarship Coordinator, encouraging and developing

emerging young artists here in Mercury Bay.