Selectors for next year’s Grace Butler Memorial Foundation Award at Ara have been appointed alongside an increase in grant for the three-month biennial residency.

The selectors for the 2027 biennial award are: Chloe Cull, pouarataki curator Māori at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; Ōtautahi based artist and University of Canterbury fine arts graduate Emma Fitts; and Oliver Perkins, a contemporary painter and tutor in the Bachelor of Design programme at Ara Institute of Canterbury.

The Grace Butler Memorial Foundation Award at Ara is a biennial award for an artist who is Canterbury-based or has an association with the region. It was established in 2017 by the late Grace Adams and the Grace Butler Memorial Foundation to maintain the legacy of Adams’ mother, Waitaha Canterbury plein air artist Grace Butler, who died in 1962. As well as the grant, it includes access to a studio and related resources at the Ara School of Art and Design for the duration of the residency.

“The Award is an excellent opportunity for an artist or arts student,” says Mark McEntyre, creative and media portfolio manager at Ara. “It provides much-needed space and financial support for the artist and an invaluable opportunity for Ara students to engage with an arts practitioner.”

Previous recipients of the Award are Zina Swanson (2018), Louise Palmer (2020), Ana Iti (2022) and Melissa Macleod (2024/25).

The 2027 Grace Butler Memorial Foundation Award at Ara also includes an increase in total grant value from $20,000 to $25,000. 
Grace Butler Memorial Foundation trustee Victoria Pfahlert says the increase reflects the original goal of the Award to allow contemporary artists and art students to focus on the realisation of a body of work free from the need to seek outside employment.

“We know Grace Butler relied on scholarships during her studies so we are really pleased to honour this legacy and her standing as an Ōtautahi artist in providing financial support for an artist or arts student with a connection to Canterbury.”

Expressions of interest for the 2027 Grace Butler Memorial Foundation Award at Ara open on 1 September 2026 – for more information go to the home page of this website.