The Blumhardt Foundation is delighted to announce the first recipients of the newly established Blumhardt Fund are The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, The Otago Museum, Dunedin and The Suter Gallery, Nelson. The Blumhardt Fund provides a dollar for dollar subsidy to enable participating art museums to acquire works made by outstanding contemporary New Zealand craft/object art practitioners.

Karl Chitham, Director, Dowse Art Museum
“The Dowse Art Museum has a reputation for fostering and collecting New Zealand studio craft. This generous funding from the Blumhardt Foundation towards new acquisitions will allow us to extend our collection to include even more makers and across a greater diversity of disciplines and approaches. This will make an incredible difference to our collection over the coming years and will help grow opportunities for the studio craft sector in Aotearoa.”

Ian Griffin, Director, Otago Museum
We are absolutely thrilled to have been selected as one of the Blumhardt Foundation’s partners. Our ambitions to develop Otago Museum’s New Zealand craft collections entirely match Dame Doreen Blumhardt’s aims in establishing the Foundation. This partnership will enable us to consider the acquisition and display of more substantial works by artists already represented, and to expand into some new areas as well.

Julie Catchpole, Director, The Suter Art Gallery
Nelson is a region with a long history and strong focus on craft and The Suter has long prioritised craft in our collection. With the generous support of the Blumhardt Fund we will be able to be more ambitious in our acquisition of a broader range of makers and media. We are excited to partner with the Blumhardt Foundation to support, highlight and advance the best craftspeople in Aotearoa.

The Blumhardt Foundation announces that the 2024 recipients of Dame Doreen’s Gift are contemporary jeweller Frances Stachl of Whanganui and contemporary weaver Annie Mackenzie of Torea Granity, Te Tai o Poutini, both of whom receive gifts of $10,000 from the Foundation.

Annie Mackenzie was awarded the gift on the strength of her exhibition ‘Genuine Article’ at the Sarjeant Gallery which featured intricate new woven works inspired by the paintings of Edith Collier and Joanna Margaret Paul, and the Whanganui Woollen Mills. Annie is an active maker that shows commitment to the history of craft in Aotearoa.

Frances Stachl (Ngāpuhi) was awarded the gift for dedication to her practice as a self-supporting working jeweller, which balances making with selling; her development as a maker, respect for material, acknowledging her heritage and being a great support to others in the sector.”

Annually Blumhardt Foundation Trustees present Gifts to encourage an establishing artist and a mid-career artist whose craft/object practices are outstanding and have garnered the admiration and respect of peers, sector leaders and institutions.