UXBRIDGE Arts and Culture

 

UXBRIDGE Arts and Culture is an independent, not-for-profit creative hub that offers classes, workshops, programmes, events, and exhibitions. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), the organisation is primarily known for the Estuary Art and Ecology Awards, which have been running for 20 years as Aotearoa’s only annual contemporary art awards with ecology at the core.

This nationally recognised platform fosters dialogue between art and science by encouraging artists to delve into the ecological significance and fragile beauty of the Tāmaki Estuary, a vital 15 km-long waterway on the eastern edge of Tāmaki Makaurau, where freshwater from the land meets the saltwater of the Hauraki Gulf. The awards currently represent UXBRIDGE’s main ecological engagement, with most other programming focused on the local community. 

The organisation is extending its ecological focus beyond the awards programme into its wider operations. It plans to develop offshoot projects alongside the Estuary Art and Ecology Awards to accelerate sustainable practice and engagement with artists working in ecology.