Introducing the Big 'A' Awards

The Big ‘A’ Awards are presented in Parliament every year by Arts Access Aotearoa. These are the key national awards in New Zealand celebrating the achievements of individuals and organisations providing opportunities for people with limited access to participate in the arts, as artists and audience members.

We are calling for nominations to the Big 'A' Awards 2013, which will be presented at a ceremony hosted by the Hon Christopher Finlayson in the Banquet Hall in Parliament on 30 July.

The Big ‘A’ Awards 2012 ceremony was also hosted by the Hon Christopher Finlayson in the Banquet Hall. For the first time, Arts Access Aotearoa presented the Big ‘A’ Artistic Achievement Award to an artist with an intellectual, physical or sensory impairment. The recipient was Sarah Houbolt, Auckland circus artist.

Arts Access Aotearoa also presented two awards to acknowledge leaders within the Department of Corrections and in the community, delivering arts in prison as a tool supporting the rehabilitation of prisoners. The recipients were Corina Hazlett, Art tutor, Canterbury Prisons (‘A’ Prison Arts Leadership Award 2012) and the Quilt-Stich Group, Auckland volunteers who pass on their skills to women in Auckland Region Women's Correctinos Facility (Big ‘A’ Prison Arts Community Award 2012).