This Exhibition was curated from submissions to an open call to artists in Aotearoa New Zealand to submit works for selection for the Cash and Carry Collection The Taranaki Collection 2026. This show was juried for the $400.00 NZ prize for Judges’ Choice in Show, which was announced on Sunday 11th January 2026 at the Opening Gallery Gathering.
We invited artists who use fibre and textiles in their practices to submit works for selection for this celebration of Taranaki. The show of selected works is open across some of the busiest tourist season months and this is a chance to showcase our Province to the world.
We asked the entrants to create work(s) that reflect the meaning of the Taranaki Region to them as a person residing in Aotearoa New Zealand. This could be from any perspective and about any particular aspect of Taranaki that they were interested in exploring creatively. The works could be wall based, hand held or plinth based.
Criteria for selection included the work must have never been exhibited before created since June 2024, not made in a workshop session. We encouraged people to use as many natural materials as possible to create work that must be predominantly fibre or textile based.
There were a wide range of responses to the call and the curated selection resulted in works by 19 Artists being selected. From these works the Juror, Jane Woodhall, selected her Choice. The prize was donated by Friends of the Gallery and this was the inaugural Open Call for The Taranaki Collection.
The selected artists worked with a vast range of materials and techniques to speak about their personal connection to The Taranaki Province. Jane selected the work ‘Pakanga II – The Quiet That Followed’ created by Donna Dinsdale as the winner. More information about this work and it’s back story can be found on Donna’s Artist Page: https://fromoutofthebluestudiogallery.com/donna-dinsdale/
Below is a carousel of images of one selected work from each artist – enjoy. For more works check out the artist’s own webpage on the gallery website.
Antonia O’Mahony – Salt Spray 
Donna Dinsdale – Pakanga – The Quiet That Followed. Image credit – Anne Shirley Fusemedia 
Karen Johnston – Waterways 
Kirsty Glasgow – Netted 
Donna Kennedy – A Taranaki Ancestry 
Jeanette Verster – Map 
Billee Mutton – Manukau Moana II 
Jules Millar – Deforestation 
Finola Chamberlain – Thorny Shrub Which is Ferocious (Lyceum ferocissimum) 
Carol Forsyth – Nest for a Fragile Landscape 
Anne Garvey – Middleton Bay 
Rose Lee – So Curious 
Ruth Nicholas – Coastal Walkway Boulders 
Sandra Hall – Runners 
Rebecca Beyer – A Gathering 
Kathryn George – Taranaki Mounga, Taranaki Tangata (Taranaki is the mountain, and Taranaki are the people). 
Marion Manson – Pages From The Past 
Lois McCormick – Silent Beauty 
Please check out the page that has the artists’ statements on.
Some of the artists also have individual Artist Pages as they have either exhibited with us previously or are going to be exhibiting with us in 20-26. These links have been added under the Artist’s statement on the combined page. – Please check them out.