Art competition seeks new look at our urban areas

New Zealanders are invited to look at our cities and towns with fresh eyes in a special art competition marking the Year of the Built Environment.

A total of $7000 in prize money can be won in the competition, Urban Life - A Celebration in Art.

Judges include All Black and art collector Anton Oliver, celebrated architect Ian Athfield, senior architecture lecturer, art historian and curator Dr Deidre Brown, and artist, filmmaker and designer Neil Pardington.

"The competition will encourage people to find new ways of representing the positives of the urban areas around us," Urban Affairs and Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said in a statement yesterday.

"We are asking people to depict an urban place, structure or activity – past, present or future – that captures their imagination in some way."

The competition is part of the Year of the Built Environment 2005 (YBE2005), announced by the minister in January. The Year's flagship events, including recent Open House events in the four main centres, are designed to stimulate public interest in the significance of the built environment in New Zealanders' daily lives.

Entries close on Friday September 16. They can be any size or genre, including drawing, painting, photography, craft or sculpture. They can also be new or existing works.

Short-listed works will be displayed in a web exhibition from October 31 - December 1, with the public able to vote for the People's Choice award.

Winners of the first prize ($5000), three merit awards ($500 each) and the People's Choice award ($500) will be announced at the opening of a second exhibition of the short-listed entries. This exhibition will be held at Shed 11 on the Wellington waterfront from December 6-14.