The Rita Angus Residency in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, is an opportunity for artists to live in the former home of

Rita Angus Henrietta Catherine Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), known as Rita Cook early in her career, was a New Zealand painter who, alongside Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston, is regarded as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Ne ...

, one of New Zealand’s best-known painters, while creating a body of new work.

About the Residency

The Rita Angus Cottage at 194A Sydney Street West in the Wellington suburb of Thorndon was built in 1877.

lived there from 1955 until her death in 1970. The

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

entry for the cottage (registered as a Category 1 Historic Place) reads: "Many paintings of the house, the garden, the Bolton Street Cemetery and the buildings of the neighbourhood attest to the great influence this place had on the life of the artist." In 1984, the cottage was purchased by the Thorndon Trust with the intent of providing accommodation for artists visiting Wellington, either for short periods or to work on particular projects. In 2006,

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

’s College of Creative Arts partnered with the Thorndon Trust to launch the inaugural Massey University Rita Angus Visual Arts Residency, enabling both New Zealand and international artists to live at the cottage and develop a body of work. In 2010, WelTec partnered with the Thorndon Trust to resurrect the residency, with support from

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...

. The residency guidelines required artists to submit proposals for a project they would like to complete while living at the cottage, with a brief to "localise the concepts 'technology' and 'culture' in the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand".

Past recipients

*2012 Glen Hayward *2011 Residency shared by Ben Cauchi and Andre Hemer *2010 Wayne Youle *2008

Ronnie van Hout Ronnie van Hout (born 22 February 1962) is a New Zealand artist and musician living in Melbourne, Australia. He works across a wide variety of media including sculpture, video, painting, photography, embroidery, and sound recordings. Early life a ...

*1997

Ani O'Neill Ani O'Neill (born 1971) is a New Zealand artist of Cook Islands, Cook Island (Ngāti Makea, Ngāti Te Tika) and Irish descent. She has been described by art historian Karen Stevenson as one of the core members of a group of artists of Pasifika ...

*1995 Séraphine Pick and Gary Freemantle *1994 Stephanie Sheehan *1993

Joanna Margaret Paul Joanna Margaret Paul (14 December 1945 – 29 May 2003) was a New Zealand visual artist, poet and film-maker. Early life and education Paul was one of four daughters of pioneering New Zealand publisher Blackwood Paul and artist and writer Ja ...

and Charlotte Fisher *1991 Jane Zusters *1989 Gary Freemantle *1985

Tony Fomison Anthony Leslie (Tony) Fomison (12 July 1939 – 7 February 1990) was a notable artist in New Zealand. He was an important post-war visual artist in the country and influenced New Zealand art by incorporating elements of narrative and myth in ...

(first residency) Other past residents include Jenny Dolezell, Nicola Jackson, Yvonne Rust, and Michael Tuffery.

References

{{Massey University, state=autocollapse Massey University New Zealand visual arts awards Scholarships in New Zealand