Visual Arts Symposium Won the "Dragons" Over

The Grand Prize winner of the Whanganui “Den of Dragons” is the Visual Arts Symposium presented by the Fine Arts Whanganui Gallery.  Excited and nervous, looking to the future, and up for the hard work, the winners are a collective of ten artists that share a gallery on Taupo Quay.  The Visual Arts Symposium is a conference styled 3 day event bringing together NZ prominent artists, speakers, demonstrations, an art business expo and a Gala Dinner evening.  Workshops and seminars will be available for everyone from the art newbie to the art professional.



The People’s Choice Prize, determined by online voting on the night, went to the Youth Games presented by DnA Events.  The Youth Games is a national sports development event for school teams in Years 9 and 10 and will cover 12 codes.  Their theme is participation, enjoyment and self-development.
 
Three of the “Dragons” on the night were from outside the region and professional award-winning event managers with national and international experience.  They also had the benefit of seeing the full written applications prior to the live audience presentations.  Criteria for the top slot was to position an event to occur outside the peak summer season, attract national and international visitors to Whanganui, support Whanganui’s reputation in arts, culture and heritage and utilise our venues and sportsgrounds. 

“I know they said it was a very tough decision to make and wanted to ensure we would support all the finalists in bringing their events about” said Lyn Cheyne, Whanganui and Partners Promotions and Marketing Manager.  “We most certainly will be doing that.”



Judges Blair Jagusch, General Manager of Orange Productions, Simon Phillips, Director of Regions, NZ Māori Tourism, Petrina Maxwell, Founder of Agent 86 Events and Kathy Cunningham, Empire PR and Events and CEO of Wanganui Events Trust, were fantastic judges and have offered ongoing advice to all the finalists.  Whanganui has a great variety of events, shows, acts and forums planned for next year and the six finalists will absolutely be contributing to a great line-up.