Transfusion exhibition opening night

Hillcrest High School student Julia King, 17, has taken out the Transfusion Painting Competition top prize tonight – the Wintec scholarship, with her landscape oil on canvas entitled ‘Ohiwa dunes’ landscape.

Below is Hamilton Boys' High School head of art James Sutherland, with Julia King and Health Waikato chief operating officer Jan Adams.

Above: Wiremu Mackie with his commended piece showing his little sister at the lake and below Jan Adams with Amy Nicholson of Forest View High School, Tokoroa with her painting of two young people doing a hongi.

As initiating school of the Transfusion painting competition, it is fitting that Hamilton Boys’ High School also took six top prizes in tonight’s judging at Waikato Museum.

Hamilton Boys’ High School won the competition’s overall school prize as well as five highly commended ratings at the opening of the Transfusion exhibition.

The full list of prize winners is listed below.

The competition saw a high calibre of judges taking part in Tim Croucher (Wintec School of Media Arts), Alison Ewing (Kate Alison Arts Consultants) and Dr Carole Shepheard (former professor of Elam School of Art).

In 2004 Hamilton Boys’ High School and Waikato DHB non-clinical services manager Brenda Peters set up the initiative to create art-for-hospital with Boys’ High art students creating works for Waikato Hospital.

The competition gives year 12 and 13 art students from throughout the Waikato the chance to donate their work to Health Waikato hospitals, as well as compete amongst their peers.

Mrs Peters said student artwork had been a highlight of her very varied role with Waikato DHB and that her favourite piece of student artwork is a Ray Charles painting, done by David Pickett from Hamilton Boys’ High School in 2006. 

David Pickett went on to study at Elam School of Fine Arts, graduating in 2009.

In the past six years Boys’ High students have donated hundreds of paintings to Waikato Hospital.

Last year however, the school and Waikato DHB teamed up with the Waikato Museum and Wintec to extend the opportunity further to include all secondary schools within the Waikato DHB region, creating the Transfusion competition.

As a result, there has been a great increase in participation from schools; including, Huntly, Tokoroa, Te Awamutu, Raglan and other Hamilton schools.

“By donating artwork to the hospital, young artists can be assured of public appreciation of their work,” said project manager and Hamilton Boys’ High School head of art James Sutherland.

“For everybody involved, it is a great way to give something positive, tangible and lasting to the community, and we can feel a great sense of pride when walking through the corridors of the hospital and seeing the works.”

The works are displayed at Waikato Museum, and following the exhibition they will be donated to Waikato DHB and displayed throughout Health Waikato hospitals.

The exhibition opened at Waikato Museum last night and continues until 6 August.

ENDS