Climate Canvas – Precious Resources

Give form to the future. Let the climate speak through your creativity.

What does a thriving world look like through the eyes of a creative?  What futures can we paint when we give our imagination full permission to hope?

Envirohub Bay of Plenty is partnering with Creative Bay of Plenty to invite artists, makers, innovators and visionaries to take part in Climate Canvas – Precious Resources, a visual art competition that invites artists to look at what we have, what we use, and what we stand to lose. 

From the water in our rivers to the fabric in our wardrobes, the world is rich with materials and systems that sustain us, yet too often we treat them as disposable or infinite. We ask: what does it look like to truly value what we have?

What We’re Looking For

To inspire you, we are looking for visual artworks that align with this years theme Precious Resources and respond to:

• Material life cycles – the story of textiles, plastics, timber, and other materials, from origin to reuse, repair, and reimagining
• Water, soil, and air – our most fundamental commons, and what it means to protect, restore, or mourn them
• The economy of enough – alternatives to extraction and waste; circular thinking, repair culture, and sufficiency
• Indigenous and traditional knowledge – the deep wisdom of peoples who have long understood how to live within limits, including mātauranga Māori and kaitiakitanga

Whether your work is made from reclaimed materials, or simply speaks about them, we welcome approaches that are speculative, symbolic, or grounded in everyday life.

Your canvas is your climate message.  Submit your work by 31 August 2026 and be part of a public exhibition during the Climate Action Festival week in Tauranga’s Cargo Shed, followed by a showing at another gallery in the BOP (to be announced).

Prizes include $800 (1st), $400 (2nd), $200 (3rd), and a $300 People’s Choice Award, which will be voted on in person at the Cargo Shed during the exhibition.  This is more than a competition, it’s a chance to reclaim our collective future, brushstroke by brushstroke.

Click here for the Artist Brief 

Important Dates:

15 July – Submissions open

31 August – Submissions close

3 September – 10 Finalists announced

17-20 September – Exhibition of 10 Finalists at Cargo Shed with voting in person as well.

20 September – Awards night at the Cargo Shed with refreshments. People’s choice awards voting

21 September – 18 October – Exhibition of 10 Finalists at Another Gallery (TBC)