About the awards
We invite secondary school art teachers in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland who teach Year 12 and 13 to participate in this free project. As one of the region’s longest-standing creative youth art awards, this project celebrates senior secondary school artists as well as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prolific artists, Pat Hanly. The project offers young artists opportunities to explore and shape their own pathways in the creative sector.
How to participate (To be H3)
Participation in the Pat Hanly Creativity Project and Awards is free. There are limited spaces for schools with no limit on students per school.
Each school must sign up for the project with their whole class and join one of the kick-off days at the Gallery. Schools can sign up multiple Year 12 and 13 art classes.
The project is run in 4 phases:
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Pre-project meeting and sign up: All Year 12 and 13 art teachers are invited to a mandatory pre-project hui to learn more about the project and how to participate. In the hui, you will be given instructions on how to enroll your school and book your Gallery visit to kick-off the project.
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Gallery visit: Participating students take part in an inspiration day at the Gallery, including workshops with our studio artist.
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Create your artwork: Gallery staff will coordinate with teachers to visit each school and view the students’ artworks. The young artists are given personalised feedback and tips on completing their work.
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Gallery exhibition: The project culminates with an exhibition at the Gallery, where at least one artwork per school will be displayed. Note, artworks selected for the exhibition will need to remain on display at Auckland Art Gallery for the entire duration of the exhibition. Teachers are required to photograph selected artworks before delivering them to Auckland Art Gallery.
School spaces for the 2026 Pat Hanly Project are now full, and bookings for a kick-off day at the Gallery are closed. Watch this space for information on how to get involved in next year’s awards.
Key dates: (To be H4)
The key dates for this year’s Pat Hanly Creativity Project and Awards are:
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4 February 2026: Pre-project meeting.
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4 to 18 February 2026: School sign-ups. Note that sign-ups may close earlier if spots are full.
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20 April to 8 May 2026: Gallery visits.
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11 May to 3 July 2026: Students create their own artworks.
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7 August 2026: Young Gallery Night, where all participating students, teachers, family and friends are invited to the opening of the Pat Hanly Awards exhibition. This event celebrates young creatives and will include food, music, dancing and art activations.
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7 August to 13 September 2026: Pat Hanly Awards selected works are on display at the Gallery
This year’s theme (To be H3)
The theme for the 2026 project is Ko au te taiao/I am the environment.
The 2026 theme connects identity to the environment, land, sky and water. It speaks to the water and other natural elements in all of us that are connected to the tides, seasons and moon phases – the emotional currents in us. The theme encourages students to think about how we are all connected to our environment – to our taiao (tides of the world).
