Eight outstanding artists join the 130 strong Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate alumni – receiving a total of $280,000 entirely funded through generous giving to the arts.

The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi is thrilled to reveal the eight Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Award recipients for 2024, identified as Aotearoa New Zealand’s most outstanding artists this year. They are recognised for their outstanding practice as well as their significant impact to their art form and Aotearoa New Zealand.

2024 marks the 24th year of the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Awards, established to celebrate and empower New Zealand’s most outstanding practising artists across all artforms. Every year the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi recognises exceptional artists with a financial gift (usually totalling $30,000, but this year increased to $35,000 each thanks to a generous top up from One NZ), and honours their impact and contribution to the arts. The awards are entirely funded by generous arts lovers from across Aotearoa.

This year the eight recipients will join an artist alumni of 130 Laureates – a legacy of artistic excellence stretching back to the year 2000. Past Laureates include Ladi6, Shane Cotton, Eleanor Catton, Whirimako Black, Don McGlashan, Taika Waititi, Lisa Reihana,Bill Manhire and FAFSWAG – to name a few!

Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Kaiwhakahaere / General Manager, Jessica Palalagi says, “we’re thrilled to introduce the 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates, each who represent the outstanding artistic and creative talent that we have in Aotearoa New Zealand. Celebrated for both their significant contributions to their artforms and our cultural landscape, their unwavering passion for their craft mean these remarkable artists are truly shaping our future.”

The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Co-Chairs, Kent Gardner and Chelsea Winstanley ONZM say, “The 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates demonstrate excellence and a deep commitment to their practice, shaping Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural landscape. They are trailblazers who elevate our national arts scene, enrich our lives, and reinforce the vital role of the arts in society. As we celebrate their achievements, we reaffirm our mission to support and uplift the artists who make Aotearoa a more vibrant and creative place.”

The Laureates are chosen following a rigorous selection process by an independent panel of experts during July 2024.

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Award Recipients

2024 Alison Wong – Literature

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Burr/Tatham Trust Award

Carin Wilson Kahui Whetu Ngā Aho – Design/Sculpture

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Design Award

Gifted by the Crane Foundation

Claire Cowan – Music

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Joanna Hickman, Waiwetu Trust Award

Horomona Horo – Taonga Pūoro/Composer

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award

Gifted Jillian Friedlander

Lonnie Hutchinson – Visual Arts

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the My ART Visual Arts Award

Gifted by Sonja and Glenn Hawkins

Miriama McDowell – Theatre

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Sir Roger Hall Theatre Award

Saskia Leek – Visual Arts

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Female Arts Practitioner Award

Gifted by Liz Aitken, Foggy Valley Aotearoa

Victor Rodger ONZM – Theatre

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts Award

Gifted by Hall Cannon

The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Awards are for practicing New Zealand artists, working anywhere in the world, with significant achievements – and the potential to continue as high achieving artists – who:


• have produced a substantial / significant body of work of outstanding quality and excellence • have made a significant impact within their disciplines/sectors and/or within their communities
• have an ongoing commitment to their practice and the potential to contribute more as a high achieving artist (or collective)
• an artist whose practice is making a significant impact on New Zealand
• this award would enable and support the artist to make a significant next step in their career

The 2024 Arts Foundation Laureate recipients were selected by an independent panel of industry experts. The selection panel included:

• Eve de Castro-Robinson – Composer
• Karl Chitham – Director, The Dowse
• Lucy Hammonds – Curator, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
• Murray Lynch – Director, Playmarket
• Nathan Joe – Playwright, Writer
• Paula Morris MNZM – Writer, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland, 2022 Arts Foundation Laureate
• Zoe Black – Deputy Director, Objectspace

The Laureates are possible thanks to a generous whānau of funders whose contribution enables these awards – some annually, some every second year.

We thank: Sir Roger Hall, The Burr/Tatham Trust, Sonja and Glenn Hawkins and My ART, Jillian Friedlander, Hall Cannon, Liz Aitken and Foggy Valley Aotearoa, Joanna Hickman and Waiwetu Trust, and Murray Crane and the Crane Foundation.

For the second year in a row, One NZ have generously topped up all Laureate Awards with a $5,000 gift: an investment in the arts and creativity for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

Image: The 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates at last night’s Awards Party in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

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