Local creatives impress judges
Hazel Alviola's winning photo of Macetown's Needhams Cottage. PHOTO: HAZEL ALVIOLA
The winner of the biennial Arrowtown Photography Competition, held as part of this year's Arrowtown Autumn Festival, only started properly snapping last year.
Hazel Alviola took out the overall first place with her striking black and white image, 'Needhams Cottage', in Macetown, which impressed judges Todd Weeks and Leigh Jeffery.
Alviola says she's in "absolute disbelief".
Entering the comp was a way to share her work with the public, "but more importantly, to prove to myself that I could do it".
"[Last Friday], standing there among so many talented artists, I felt so proud."
Organised by the Arrowtown Promotion and Business Association, black and white was a new category this year, along with wildlife.
Due to the strength of submissions and exceptional standard, judges introduced the 'highly commended' award — that went to Martin Barwood for his stunning wildlife photo, 'White Faced Heron'.
Meantime, in the Bayleys Arrowtown Autumn Fest Art Exhibition, local Jane Burdon won the $3500 premier painting award, while Jade Barclay won the $750 best local painting award, sponsored by Print Central.
The Berry & Co premier applied art award went to Lynne Fellows — Angus Milne and Jenny Hill received merit awards — and Lynn Brochere Millar won the innovative use of materials in any medium award, sponsored by Millbrook Resort.
The Autumn Festival Committee young artist award was won by Olivia Pickney; Arrowtown Gallery merit awards went to Tracey Morrow and Jos Browning; and the Lakes District Museum ceramics award was won by Diana Turnbull Anderson.
The photos and entries in the exhibition are on display until May 18, at which time the APT Design Public Choice voting will also close.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Author's new book a spotlight on gold rush
Author Kirsty Powell in her old-shale shawl, on her way to her Lawrence book launch last week. PHOTO: NICK BROOK A new novel mining Clutha's heart of gold was launched in Lawrence on Saturday. The Strength of Old Shale by Kirsty Powell, sweeps from the stony slopes of Gabriel's Gully to link the lives of two young women like fine crochet — though a century and-a-half apart. As rural, tough Ariel shelters from the greatest trial of her life by burying herself in her work — graveyard archaeology with the University of Otago — Shetland Island horse-whisperer Isobel escapes her old-world ghosts to take up a contract with 1860's gold-rush lifeline Cobb & Co. Real-life characters inhabit many of Powell's people as these two worlds collide with the unearthing of a mother and child's remains, wrapped in Shetland lace, in a forgotten Lawrence burial ground. "It's fun to bring history to life through fiction," Mrs Powell said. "There's so much to New Zealand's story. "If you can put it into fiction which moves along to keep a person interested ... you're learning history by osmosis. "That's what I like." Familiar faces from modern locations also walk lively through Powell's brisk plots, a major factor in choosing Otago's historic gold town for her launch as well as setting. "The first seed for The Strength of Old Shale came from long evenings yarning with my old buddy Wally Dalziel on motorcycle trips to Turkey, Peru and China," she said. Kirsty Powell was one of the guests invited by Walter Dalziel to his Century Farms celebration in Lawrence over the same weekend. His Shetland ancestors jumped ship more than 150 years ago to begin a new life in New Zealand and appear in the pioneer part of the story. Renowned Otago archaeologist Peter Petchey roves through the background like a vintage four-wheel-drive. Now living in rural South Auckland, Powell began her writing career under the guidance of Witi Ihimaera, Anne Kennedy, Robert Sullivan and Eleanor Catton. Fresh off the press this month, The Strength of Old Shale is the stand-alone, southern sequel to her North Island based debut novel The Strength of Eggshells which won the 2020 New Zealand Booklovers Award for Best Adult Fiction. Digging down to the adventure and determination of the pioneer spirit, Ariel needs the strength to face her real-world fate.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Scoop
SONGHUBS: A Story On Collaboration
Press Release – APRA – AMCOS APRA AMCOS' flagship collaborative songwriting program, SongHubs, has unveiled a brand-new documentary, SongHubs: A Story on Collaboration, celebrating the stories and experiences of leading songwriters and producers across Aotearoa and Australia. Filmed as part of the program's 100th SongHubs celebrations, the documentary provides a rare glimpse inside some of its most pivotal songwriting pairings of the past eleven years, featuring songwriters and producers from Auckland, London, Melbourne and Sydney including Bic Runga, Chris Tamwoy, Jordan Rakei, Josh Fountain, Alice Ivy, AR/CO, and Telenova. Ivor Novello nominated singer/songwriter and producer, Jordan Rakei, was inspired to write acclaimed album The Loop after attending a 2022 SongHubs event in London and curating their own SongHubs in Tāmaki Makaurau in 2023. 'The Loop was a massive collaboration album,' Tokoroa-born Rakei explains. 'That was actually inspired by my time with the cross-collaboration with APRA AMCOS and SongHubs. I can't really do a solo album anymore, I just love collaborating.' Since its inception in 2013, SongHubs has provided opportunities for over 2,000 emerging and established songwriters across over 30 locations worldwide, pairing them with local, national and global creatives in a collaborative, professional studio setting and cementing its position as one of the region's most exciting and innovative programs for music creators. SongHubs has evolved from a straight-forward writing camp to a highly sought-after collaborative writing program, providing participants with new skills and connections to help build their career and produce commercially successful music, with over 200 songs released and approx. NZD$7 million in royalties earned. To date, more than 6,000 tracks have been co-written in languages including te reo Māori, Indian, Korean, Portuguese and First Nations languages from collaborators including CHAII, Courtney Barnett, Stan Walker, JessB, and Troye Sivan. Bic Runga, award-winning singer/songwriter/producer and APRA Writer Board Representative, explains: 'I wasn't a natural co-writer. I always wrote by myself. And so SongHubs got me out of my really insular sort of songwriting style. And if you're lucky enough to have any SongHubs away from your home base, you really connect with people and the relationships just go on and it's really, really something.' 'From a Māori worldview perspective, you know, music has nothing to do with 'industry' – it's pure magic. And that's the essence of what I think we need to keep remembering. It's sort of spiritual, you know? And I think, sometimes, when you get too 'industried out', it's good to remember what the purpose of music actually is. It's a really human experience.'
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Scoop
SONGHUBS: A Story On Collaboration
APRA AMCOS' flagship collaborative songwriting program, SongHubs, has unveiled a brand-new documentary, SongHubs: A Story on Collaboration, celebrating the stories and experiences of leading songwriters and producers across Aotearoa and Australia. Filmed as part of the program's 100th SongHubs celebrations, the documentary provides a rare glimpse inside some of its most pivotal songwriting pairings of the past eleven years, featuring songwriters and producers from Auckland, London, Melbourne and Sydney including Bic Runga, Chris Tamwoy, Jordan Rakei, Josh Fountain, Alice Ivy, AR/CO, and Telenova. Ivor Novello nominated singer/songwriter and producer, Jordan Rakei, was inspired to write acclaimed album The Loop after attending a 2022 SongHubs event in London and curating their own SongHubs in Tāmaki Makaurau in 2023. 'The Loop was a massive collaboration album,' Tokoroa-born Rakei explains. "That was actually inspired by my time with the cross-collaboration with APRA AMCOS and SongHubs. I can't really do a solo album anymore, I just love collaborating.' Since its inception in 2013, SongHubs has provided opportunities for over 2,000 emerging and established songwriters across over 30 locations worldwide, pairing them with local, national and global creatives in a collaborative, professional studio setting and cementing its position as one of the region's most exciting and innovative programs for music creators. SongHubs has evolved from a straight-forward writing camp to a highly sought-after collaborative writing program, providing participants with new skills and connections to help build their career and produce commercially successful music, with over 200 songs released and approx. NZD$7 million in royalties earned. To date, more than 6,000 tracks have been co-written in languages including te reo Māori, Indian, Korean, Portuguese and First Nations languages from collaborators including CHAII, Courtney Barnett, Stan Walker, JessB, and Troye Sivan. Bic Runga, award-winning singer/songwriter/producer and APRA Writer Board Representative, explains: 'I wasn't a natural co-writer. I always wrote by myself. And so SongHubs got me out of my really insular sort of songwriting style. And if you're lucky enough to have any SongHubs away from your home base, you really connect with people and the relationships just go on and it's really, really something." "From a Māori worldview perspective, you know, music has nothing to do with 'industry' - it's pure magic. And that's the essence of what I think we need to keep remembering. It's sort of spiritual, you know? And I think, sometimes, when you get too 'industried out', it's good to remember what the purpose of music actually is. It's a really human experience."
