Tuesday 12 November 2024

Nominations open for 2025 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Awards:

Supporting Up-and-Coming Artists to Kickstart Creative Careers

2025 marks the sixth year of the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard programme, which aims to kickstart arts careers for six artists in Aotearoa every year. Along with a $15,000 gift, each recipient will be matched to a senior artist mentor from the Arts Foundation alumni of Laureate, Icon Whakamana Hiranga, New Generation, Residency or Fellowship recipients – or an artist from the wider arts community. Mentors receive a $5,000 koha for their time. These awards are made possible thanks to generous givers across the country who choose to support The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi.

Nominations open Monday 11 November and close Friday 13 December. Following nominations, an independent selection panel (made up of artists and experts from a diverse range of disciplines across the creative sector) gather in early 2025 to review the submissions received and ultimately select our Springboard Class of ’25.

To nominate someone for a Springboard Award:

• Head to: thearts.co.nz/awards/springboard-award
• Artists can’t nominate themselves, but must be nominated by someone
• Applicants currently in secondary school or completing an undergraduate degree are not eligible for consideration.

Springboard Award criteria:

• The artist must show potential to develop a sustainable career and practice in the
• The award must have major impact on the artist to carry out working as an artist for a
• The artist could have developed a practice independent of any formal training
• They will show potential to develop their careers either as independent artists or within a creative
• The artist needs to show commitment and intent

There are some awards that have specific criteria:

• The Springboard Award for Dance gifted by Jennifer and Marko Bogoievski
• The Springboard Award for Visual Arts gifted by The Edgar Family
• The Springboard Award for Visual Arts gifted by Dr Fiona Pardington and Starkwhite
• The Springboard Award for Film gifted by Jamie and Ann Selkirk

Current 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard duos:

Emily Parr (Moving Image) mentored by 2020 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Tanu Gago ^MNZM of FAFSWAG Collective (Interdisciplinary Arts).

Emma Hislop (Literature) mentored by 2005 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Icon Patricia Grace ^{DCNZM QSO} (Literature).

Flo Wilson (Music & Sonic Arts) mentored by 2008 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi New Generation recipient Jeff Henderson.

Hash Perambalam (Film) mentored by Philippa Boyens (Screenwriter & Producer).

Joshua Faleatua and Tyler Carney-Faleatua (Dance, Film) mentored by 2021 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Florian Habicht (Film).

Louie Zalk–Neale (Toi Māori, Performance Art, Visual Arts) mentored by 2022 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Bridget Reweti of Mata Aho Collective (Installation).

“I’m beyond thrilled and humbled to be among the 2024 Springboard rōpū. The award comes at what feels like a pivotal time in my practice as I near the end of a doctorate — I can’t wait to see what emerges over the next year with support from the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. I’m also grateful to the many, many people who have helped to nurture my practice so far.” – 2024 Springboard Recipient Emily Parr

“Kei te mihi ki Te Tumu Toi! This award is real nourishment to my mahi toi. I’m grateful and relieved to be able to dedicate time to pausing and reflecting on how my practice is developing, and towards building a future to support my practice, my whānau and my communities. It will be incredibly valuable to have tuakana guidance from a mentor through all this. I also feel validated to be placed alongside the other iconic artists acknowledged by Te Tumu Toi, and I feel empowered with the strengths I have as a ringatoi, he kairaranga, he māmā, he kaiako, and everything else I am. Mauri ora!” – 2024 Springboard Recipient Louie Zalk-Neale

“I feel like it [the Springboard programme] creates a pathway where there isn’t one. Normally you kind of just get into the arts and make it up as you go. The biggest value of this mentor-mentee thing is as the relationship that you create – which then leads to ripple effects. It’s also good for the mentors to see the issues that are still the same and to see where maybe you were, and to be able to offer a way through and be able to say ‘it’s all right, this is normal, this is exactly as it should be – and you’re going to get through this, you just have to stick at it.” – 2006 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate and 2020 Springboard Mentor, Oscar Kightley

“It was one of the most challenging, beautiful and transformative experiences of my life.” – 2022 Springboard Recipient Bella Wilson

The Arts Foundation Springboard packages have been funded thanks to the generous support of:

Dr Fiona Pardington and Starkwhite, The Edgar Family, Jamie and Ann Selkirk, Jennifer and Marko Bogoievski and some generous Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi supporters.