From 517 entries the Judges, Aisha Roberts and Tyrone Te Waa have chosen 64 finalists below.
The awards presentation and opening will be held on Friday, 7 August at 5.30pm.
The exhibition will run until 30 August 2026 at Artspost galleries in Kirikiriroa Hamilton alongside WAIPRINT 2026.
Congratulations to all the young artists from across the motu who entered and to their support network, teachers, family and friends.
| 13-14-years | Casaia You | Beyond The Cracks |
| 13-14-years | Tehya Liu | Squeeze Gently |
| 13-14-years | Willow Zhang | Collected sentiments |
| 13-14-years | Yomi Lai | My Little Sister |
| 13-14-years | Alex Zhong | The Abstractions of Reality |
| 13-14-years | Amethyst Wu | In too deep |
| 13-14-years | Lucia Zhang | Second Skin |
| 13-14-years | Yuri Ahn | When the Sun goes down |
| 13-14-years | Adrian Jacome | String of balance |
| 13-14-years | Vanessa Li | Gaze |
| 13-14-years | Vanessa Li | When chairs swim |
| 13-14-years | Aaron Liu | The Painter’s Pause |
| 13-14-years | Selina Xia | Disconnected |
| 13-14-years | Eva Zhu | Harbour Lights |
| 13-14-years | Olive Galea | Unhuman |
| 13-14-years | Shya Verhoeven | A Moment of Quiet Reflection |
| 15-19-years | Amelia Prestidge | Modern Existence |
| 15-19-years | Heaven Santos | At Dream’s Edge |
| 15-19-years | Lara Hawley | Milk and muddy waters |
| 15-19-years | Melanie Roberts | The Flow of Ludus |
| 15-19-years | Yeonwoo Oh | Ignorance |
| 15-19-years | Sophia Davies | As Seen by Artificial Lights |
| 15-19-years | Charlotte Ching Yu Zhao | Stand Out |
| 15-19-years | Xiyan (Lily) Hu | Mother and Mahjong |
| 15-19-years | Deonna Qu | Verdant Haven |
| 15-19-years | Jay Jay Xu | Colourful Gloves |
| 15-19-years | Sandra Yan | Guarded |
| 15-19-years | Axl Zhang | The Poise of Blue |
| 15-19-years | Nanami Hayter | Untitled |
| 15-19-years | Jessica Jin | Parrots within the leaves |
| 15-19-years | Annah Lynne | Untitled |
| 15-19-years | Amjayden Tafatoa Mauga | Echos of Heritage |
| 15-19-years | Aislin Tse | What’s that smell? |
| 15-19-years | Aislin Tse | Open Your Eyes |
| 15-19-years | George Moule | Disjoint |
| 15-19-years | Jack Olson-Carsons | Pause Infinity |
| 15-19-years | Anika Worthington-McBride | Mata Rua |
| 15-19-years | Yihan Liu | Listening to the Living Earth |
| 15-19-years | Maximilian Kind | The Last Whale |
| 15-19-years | Chenshuo Yuwen | Between Roots and Circuits |
| 15-19-years | Ronald Wang | The World is Served |
| 15-19-years | Lucy Xu | Cyaneidae |
| 15-19-years | Summer James | The Void |
| 15-19-years | Jasmine Couper | Twilight Innocence |
| 15-19-years | Ellie Yang | One More Meal |
| 15-19-years | Neev Panchal | Relief |
| 15-19-years | Noah Kline | Complexity |
| 15-19-years | Xinyu Jiang | Visible Girl |
| 15-19-years | Riko Kojima | Familiar memories |
| 15-19-years | Xinyi Zhu | Me |
| 15-19-years | Charlotte Finkle | Tides of Flight |
| 15-19-years | Betty Shen | Home |
| 15-19-years | Cathy Shiyu Liu | Stars |
| 15-19-years | Gemma Wong | Rising Rabbit |
| 15-19-years | Poppy Buller | Every child deserves peace and hope |
| 15-19-years | Kyra Alkamil | The Afterparty |
| 20-25-years | Portia Roper | Bryce |
| 20-25-years | Jimmy Crawford | Experiments in Bronze #4 – Based on the Gaddi torso ( 2nd century BCE.) |
| 20-25-years | Hannah Huggan | Bite |
| 20-25-years | Santiago Mora | Plank the Rate of Flow |
| 20-25-years | Jessie Randles | Subversions of freedom |
| 20-25-years | Nyle Turuwhenua | He Maōri Ahau |
| 20-25-years | Stevie Fiske | When you look at me, what do you see? |
| 20-25-years | Blake Aitken | Passage (With and Without You) |