Yellow™ Art Awards

At the Yellow® Art Awards Charity Auction held last month, Troy Packer was announced as the national winner for the 2010 competition for his artwork ‘Little Taniwha’s’ and Dunedin student Alex Sides was announced as the 2009 national winner for her artwork ‘Dundas Street on a Clear Day’.

Bay of Islands artist Troy Packer always wanted to enter the Yellow Art Awards competition but never seemed to catch it in time.

Last year, he did enter the competition, and thanks to the public, he won first place in the Northland region for his entry, ‘Little Taniwha’s’. Now he has been announced as the 2010 national winner, and has been awarded $20,000 prize money.

“I was ecstatic when I found out. It just goes to show that if you’re committed to achieving a goal, great things can happen,” he says.

Ms Sides, whose artwork went for $2,600 on the night, says she hopes her win as 2009 National Winner will lead on to “great things” and that she is thrilled her painting was auctioned for Starship Foundation.

“My niece has been in and out of Starship so I know it is a really worthy cause. It was a great feeling to have helped raise money for them.”

“I’ve only ever painted for fun or family. To get my name out there and into all the homes in my region is really motivating. Hopefully my win will lead on to great things.”

The runner-up artworks were also up for auction, via Trade Me, from 15-24 June. Together, the two auctions raised a total of 40,735 for Starship’s Air Rescue Service.

The Yellow® Art Awards, now in its 20th year, gives aspiring artists the opportunity to enter a work of art that best depicts their region and if successful, clinch the cover spot of the White pages® phone book in their region.

Over the last two decades the awards have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for New Zealand charities and been the springboard for the careers of famous New Zealand artists including Mark Olsen and Hamish Allan.

Kellie Nathan, Yellow® Marketing Director says the company are thrilled with the results of the two auctions.

“It is very encouraging to see how sought after our White pages® book covers have become. Starship’s Air Rescue Service is a fantastic cause and we are proud to have been able to do our part to help.”

The event auctioned the artwork of the 36 regional winners from the last two years of the competition and included over 150 guests including competition finalists, art enthusiasts and Starship Foundation board trustees such as Rosie Horton and Gretchen Hawkesby. Mike Puru was MC on the night.

Starship Foundation CEO, Andrew Young, says the awards auction was a perfect fit as it featured artwork from all over New Zealand which in turn will support children who are airlifted from throughout the country to Starship for life-saving care.

“Starship provides vital medical treatment to children from every town and city in New Zealand. That’s why we are so thrilled to be the charity beneficiary of the Yellow Art Awards which harnesses support from all the regions of the country.”