Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery | Tylee Cottage Artist Residencies - Claudia Jowitt
Claudia Jowitt, image by Jonathan Edgell
Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui is pleased to announce the 2026 recipients of the Tylee Cottage artist residency programme, which is generously supported by Creative New Zealand’s Toi Uru Kahikatea (Arts Development) Investment Programme.
Two distinct four-month residencies were on offer and the successful applicants for the programme this year are Claudia Jowitt and Harry Culy, who will join the gallery as the next Tylee Cottage residents between April and November 2026.
The gallery’s senior curator and programmes manager, Greg Donson said: “This year we had a large number of applications for residencies, and it was a very difficult selection process. The calibre of applicants across the two residencies was extremely high and we were heartened to receive so many excellent applicants from artists all over Aotearoa.”
Painter Claudia Jowitt will be in residence at Tylee Cottage from April 2026 and is also the recipient of Lilian Ida Smith Award. Jowitt is known for her innovative painting techniques, pushing the boundaries of what paint can do when it meets a diverse array of other media. Her works combine materials such as shell, coral, masi and seaweed that are inlaid into surfaces thick with paint and resin. Drawing on her European and Fijian heritage her unique works speak to a physical sense of place in the South Pacific.
Jowitt is represented by Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland and in 2025 had her first solo public art gallery exhibition Uana: Carried by the Waves at the Dowse Art Museum.
Artist Talk with Claudia Jowitt – Wednesday 20 May 2026 - 7.30pm.
Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery
4 Pukenamu Drive, Whanganui, 4500