Pausing the awards to offer fellowships in 2022

Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards have been Arts Access Aotearoa’s main advocacy event since 2008, celebrating the leaders who pave the way for increased access to the arts for everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“This recognition of creative and generous people has been an annual celebration we have come to love,” says Richard Benge, Executive Director, Arts Access Aotearoa. “Recently, however, things haven’t always run to plan and we all know how the pandemic has interrupted the normal flow of how we run our lives and workplaces. Because of the lockdowns and cancellations, we felt it would be unrealistic to call for awards nominations based on events and projects from 2021 as so much didn’t happen.

"In 2022, therefore, we are pausing the awards event. Instead, we will offer fellowships of up to $10,000 each for successful applicants to create or present new work or projects. It’s something positive and an opportunity to look to the future.”

As with Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards, the fellowship recipients, their projects and work will receive our maximum efforts to promote their achievements through mainstream media and online platforms, including key websites.

Arts Access Aotearoa will announce the fellowships and criteria in July 2022. Applicants will have one month from the date of the announcement to apply and submit their proposals.

About Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards

Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards are presented every year by Arts Access Aotearoa. They celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations providing opportunities for people with limited access to participate in the arts, as artists and audience members. They also acknowledge the achievements and contribution of a New Zealand artist with a physical, sensory or intellectual impairment, or lived experience of mental ill-health. 

Two of the awards recognise leadership in using the arts as a tool supporting prisoners’ rehabilitation and reintegration.

Every year since 2014, Arts Access Aotearoa has presented the Arts Access Accolade. Unlike the other awards, which are selected by a judging panel, the Accolade is selected by Arts Access Aotearoa's staff and board. It recognises a person who has inspired the Arts Access Aotearoa team and helped the organisation achieve its vision of a society where all people in New Zealand have access to the arts – someone we can’t imagine not having on board.

Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards 2021

An award-winning dancer, arts projects, a creative space nurturing mental health and wellbeing, a theatre company committed to accessibility, and leadership in delivering arts programmes in prisons were celebrated on Monday 5 July at Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards 2021, presented by Arts Access Aotearoa at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington. Read more about the Awards 2021 recipients