What would Lola think?

What would Lola think?

Lola Tunbridge and her mother Henrietta were both passionate watercolour painters. So much so that when Lola died in 1999 she left a generous bequest to establish a scholarship to ‘foster interest in New Zealand watercolour’.

On Friday night at Project Space Gallery at the University of Auckland, the Henrietta and Lola Anne Tunbridge Scholarship exhibition was officially opened with two students from Elam School of Fine Art selected to share the prize this year from dozens of entries.

Bachelor of Fine Arts student Honor Hamlet and Masters of Fine Arts student Scarlett Cibilich were selected as the winners by the judges Senior Lecturers James Cousins and p.mule, from Elam who described their entries as ‘enriching and extending the depth of the medium’.

The Scholarship, which is awarded annually to an Elam School of Fine Arts student at the University of Auckland, and worth $10,000, is one of New Zealand’s biggest art prizes, and the largest for watercolour work.

Judges Cousins and p.mule were joined by David Campbell from Perpetual Guardian, who administers the Tunbridge Trust and Associate Professor Peter Shand, Head of Elam School of Fine Arts, to announce the winners.

“This work not only shows the investigative potential of the medium, but the exhibition as installed by Olivia Hong and p.mule is exceptionally beautiful,” says Associate Professor Shand. “I can’t help wondering what Lola would think?”

He praised the foresight of the Tunbridges saying “the escalating cost of study impacts on students’ capacity to succeed, making scholarships increasingly important.”

The exhibition of finalists’ work runs until August 11th.

The Henrietta and Lola Anne Tunbridge Scholarship exhibition
Project Space Gallery
Ground Floor
20 Whitaker Place
Auckland Central
Hours: 11am-4pm (Wed-Sat)

ENDS

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