Eight visionary artists announced as 2025 Laureate recipients, as Arts Foundation celebrates 25 years
Published: Thursday 23 October 2025
The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi is proud to reveal the eight artists receiving Laureate Awards in 2025. Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates are practising New Zealand artists recognised for exceptional achievement in their field, a world class body of work, and a lasting contribution to Aotearoa’s culture and communities. Each Laureate demonstrates artistic excellence, a deep commitment to their craft, and the potential for continued impact.
This year’s Laureates join a 137-strong alumni of remarkable artistic voices – a legacy of creative excellence spanning 25 years. Collectively, the 2025 Laureates will receive $400,000 (a $50,000 gift each), funded entirely through the generosity of arts supporters from across Aotearoa. The gift is no strings attached – given in recognition of their outstanding contribution to date, and as a nudge to keep on creating (in whatever way they see fit!).
Since their inception in 2000, the Laureate Awards have celebrated practising artists across every artform – empowering creative leaders who inspire, challenge and transform our national story. Now in their 25th year, the Awards honour both a proud history and a bold future for the arts in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi General Manager / Kaiwhakahaere, Jessica Palalagi, says: “This milestone year is a celebration of the visionaries who have shaped our creative nation. The 2025 Laureates embody the innovation, dedication and spirit that define New Zealand’s arts community. Each one of them pushes boundaries, sparks conversation, and deepens our collective understanding of who we are.”
Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Co-Chairs, Hamish Edgar and Chelsea WinstanleyONZM, say: “as we celebrate 25 years of the Laureate Awards, we reflect on the enduring power of the arts to inspire, challenge, and unite. Being entrusted to lead an organisation founded a quarter-century ago is both an honour and a responsibility we carry with deep respect. Together, we champion artists whose work is of world-class standard, who are committed to their careers in the arts, and whose practice makes a meaningful impact on Aotearoa – ensuring their voices resonate for generations to come.”
The 2025 Laureates were selected through a rigorous selection process by an independent panel of experts during August 2025.
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Award recipients and statements from the Selection Panel
Bill Direen – Music, Literature
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Joanna Hickman, Waiwetu Trust Award
“An underground legend and artistic polymath, Bill has shaped our most literate musical voice across five decades – esoteric yet accessible, always poetic.”
Cheryl Lucas – Ceramics
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Female Arts Practitioner Award
Gifted by Foggy Valley Aotearoa Trust
“Cheryl has pushed ceramics beyond category – transforming the vessel into sculpture, social commentary, and even earthquake recovery.”
Kate Newby – Sculpture
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Gow Family Foundation Sculpture Award
“Kate’s quiet revolution asks us to notice the overlooked, creating art that is radical and gentle, ephemeral and enduring.”
Pene Pati – Opera
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Burr/Tatham Trust Award
“One of today’s leading tenors, Pene bridges opera and popular performance, inspiring new audiences and embodying cultural pride on the world stage.”
Reuben Paterson – Visual Arts
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts Award
Gifted by Hall Cannon
“Reuben dazzles with glitter and light, reimagining kōwhaiwhai, floral motif, and queer identity in bold new conversations for contemporary art.”
Roseanne Liang – Film
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Dame Gaylene Preston Filmmaker Award
“Roseanne’s fearless storytelling has placed kick-ass women at the centre of cinema, while championing equity and Asian voices on screen.”
Séraphine Pick – Visual Arts
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the My ART Visual Arts Award
Gifted by Sonja and Glenn Hawkins
“Séraphine’s atmospheric, imaginative paintings explore female experience and inner worlds, inspiring generations and anchoring our public collections.”
Shona Rapira-Davies – Sculpture, Visual Arts
2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award
Gifted by Jillian Friedlander
“Shona’s uncompromising vision confronts colonisation and uplifts Māori womanhood, creating powerful works that are both political and poetic.”
Background
The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Awards are for practicing New Zealand artists, working anywhere in the world, with significant achievements – and the potential to continue as high achieving artists – who:
- Have produced a significant body of work of outstanding quality and excellence.
- Have made a notable impact within their disciplines, sectors or communities.
- Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to their practice and the potential for continued achievement.
- Are making a significant contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand’s creative and cultural life.
- Would be enabled to take an important next step in their artistic journey through this award.
An independent panel of experts from across the arts and creativity sector select the Laureates each year. The 2025 Selection Panel included:
- Briar Grace-Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai) – 2000 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate,
- Screenwriter, Director, and Playwright
- Felicity Milburn – Lead Curator, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
- Kim Paton – Director, Objectspace
- Nigel Borell (Pirirākau, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Whakatōhea) – 2021 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Moment in Time He Momo Recipient, Māori Artist and Curator
- Peter Robinson (Ngāi Tahu) – 2016 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate and Visual Artist,
- Associate Professor, Fine Arts University of Auckland
- Shayne Carter (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) – 2020 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate and Musician
- Simon O’Neill – 2005 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate and Operatic Tenor
The Laureates are possible thanks to a generous whānau of Major Givers whose contribution enables these awards – some annually, some every second year.
Hall Cannon, Jillian Friedlander, Joanna Hickman through Waiwetu Trust, Liz Aitken and Foggy Valley Aotearoa, New Zealand Film Commission and The Roy McKenzie Trust, Sonja and Glenn Hawkins and My ART, The Burr/Tatham Trust, and The Gow Family Foundation.
For the third year in a row, One NZ has generously topped up all Laureate Awards with a $5,000 gift – an investment in the arts and creativity for the benefit of all New Zealanders.
