We're seeking artists to present at Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre's annual Sculpture Festival in October this year. This year we welcome Ryan Dewsbury and Melissa Reimer who will be co-curating the festival.

Ryan Dewsbury is a jeweller, and his work is mostly minimal and influenced by the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements - drawing upon his background in architectural and computer aided design studies - he creates pieces where proportion, balance, and scale are the first consideration.

Melissa Reimer is a cultural historian and is the exhibition curator of the Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden. She is also a gallerist and freelance copywriter. Melissa is particularly interested in impressionism in the arts.

If you are interested in presenting, please read on and scroll down to the bottom of this page to submit an application by 20 April 2025.

Sculpture Festival brings together emerging and well-known artists from around Aotearoa New Zealand to present a public exhibition of contemporary sculptural works appealing to a wide range of audiences. 

We aim to have over 200 works offered for sale, including large and small-scale sculpture and craft works in a range of media. We welcome ceramic, stone, glass, metal work, jewellery, installation, ngā toi Māori, Pacific and Asian artists to apply.

Works will be showcased in the Great Hall and outside in the North Quad across the festival dates of 4 - 19 October 2025. During the opening weekend, we would like to give visitors the opportunity to watch an artist demonstrating their skills and techniques or try their hand at a new skill by participating in a workshop.

All sales from Sculpture Festival will benefit both the artist and Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, for which this is an annual fundraiser.

For general enquiries about the festival, please contact The Arts Centre's Creative Director Chris Archer at chrisa@artscentre.org.nz before 20 April 2025.

Further Information and Application Details 

For artists interested in presenting work for sale, and/or a demonstration or workshop, please read the following information and complete the application form below. 

What Te Matatiki Toi Ora provides:

• An opportunity to have your work seen by a large and diverse audience
• All aspects of administration involved with sales
• The opportunity to present a 45–60-minute demonstration ($100 fee provided) or a 60–90-minute hands-on workshop ($200 fee provided) for adults or children
• Promotion of the festival on our website, social media channels and databases
• An artist commission of 60%
• An invitation to an opening event for you and a partner
• Support for installation and deinstallation of your work
• Insurance for your work while at Te Matatiki Toi Ora
• Re-packaging of artworks for postage back to you if not sold - costs to be covered by the artist

What is expected of you:

• To provide title, dates, dimensions, media, sale price, an image of each work and biographical/contextual info to be included in the catalogue
• To be present for install (anytime between 29 September – 2 October 2025) and deinstall (20 & 21 October 2025) of your own works if possible
• To arrange and pay cost of freight and insurance while your artwork is in transit to Te Matatiki Toi Ora, and back to you if unsold
• To invoice Te Matatiki Toi Ora for your commission and any public programme fees (if applicable) after receiving sales advice from Te Matatiki Toi Ora at the end of the festival
• To promote the festival through your own networks

Applications

If you are keen to apply to exhibit in the festival, please fill in the following form before 11.59pm on 20 April 2025. We aren't able to accept submissions after this date.

Forms must be completed in one session, and you will need to have the following information to hand:

• Your full contact details
• Up to 200 words to describe your proposed work
• Your CV
• An idea of the materials and dimensions of the work that you would like to supply
• The number of works you would like to supply
• Up to 10 images of the works themselves OR if the works have not yet been finished, concept drawings
• Up to 5 images of past works which give us an understanding of your practice
• Whether or not you are also interested in giving a demonstration or workshop