Wellington Sculpture Trust To Offer Australasia’s Largest Sculpture Prize

The Wellington Sculpture Trust is delighted to announce it has increased the Collin Post 4 Plinths Project prize to $100,000. With the help of the Collin Post Family Trust the prize money has been doubled.

Over the 22 years the Project has been running it has established a reputation for being a springboard for artists to enter the realm of large-scale public art. In 2021 the award increased from $40,000 to $50,000 when the Trust first partnered with the Collin Post Family. For the inaugural installation (2006) the prize money was $30,000. This latest increase to $100,000 is a response to not only the reputation of the award, but also a recognition of the increased cost to artists to achieve a work across the plinths in this robust environment. As part of the increased prize money, the Wellington Sculpture Trust is itself increasing its funding for the award to $40,000.

Jane Black, Chair of the Wellington Sculpture Trust, said: “What makes this biennial award so special and the largest in Australasia, is it is not acquisitive, after the two years of installation, the artist retains ownership of the work, and many have gone on to find new homes.”

The partnership celebrates and commemorates the late Collin Post and his love of the arts, in particular sculpture.

Charles Post, Collin’s son says: “Collin’s family felt the 4 Plinths project was a fitting way to celebrate the history of his patronage, and a good way of creating an enduring legacy of ongoing support for sculptural art in Wellington. This project enables that patronage to remain dynamic with the evolving showcase of sculpture on the 4 plinths, and in particular supporting artists to make the leap into large-scale public art works. The increase in the prize money is our way of ensuring that the very best of contemporary sculpture is there for all Wellingtonians and the city’s visitors to enjoy”

With the installation of the tenth 4 Plinths work, Big Flowers for a Wild City by Martin Basher in March, the Trust is now calling for proposals for the next Collin Post 4 Plinth Project to be installed on the Plinths in January 2028. The call for proposals is open to all artists.

The artists brief can be found on the Trust’s website www.sculpture.org.nz

Jane Black said: “The aim of the project is, through temporary works, to show-case sculptural practice; provide a site that provides maximum engagement for the public; and a platform both figuratively and literally for artists to work in a public space.

“Our concept for the site is modelled on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, which is also a revolving home for temporary works. It is our aim to grow this event and make it as internationally significant - a southern hemisphere version of the Fourth Plinth. The increased award money of $100,000 certainly puts it well on its way,” she said.

To date ten sculptures have been commissioned in the 4 Plinths series:

Green Islands (2008–2010), Regan Gentry;

Mimetic Brotherhood (2010–2012), Peter Trevelyan;

Out of the Dusk (2012–2014), Joanna Langford;

Rita Angus used to grow her own vegetables (2014–2016), Glen Hayward; a (very) brief history of aotearoa (2016–2018), Kereama Taepa; Other Worlds (2018–2020), Ruth Watson;

Signal Forest (2020–2022), Yolunda Hickman

#PaperPalsAotearoa (2022–2024), Ben Pearce

Merging Blocks (2024–2026) by Sabine Marcelis,

and most recently; Big Flowers For a Wild City (2026–2028) by Martin

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