The 10th Recipient of the Collin Post 4 Plinths Project Award Announced
Artist Martin Basher has been selected by the Wellington Sculpture Trust to receive the Collin Post 4 Plinths Project Award of $50,000 to deliver a temporary sculpture on the forecourt of Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand.
Martin’s work ‘Big Flowers for a Wild City’ will be the 10th temporary work commissioned for the four plinths that mark the boundary between Te Papa and Wellington’s waterfront.
Chair of the Wellington Sculpture Trust, Jane Black said today: “We are excited to award this project to an artist of Martin’s standing. Although born and bred in Wellington, Basher has divided his time between here and his established arts practice in New York City for 25 years. This is Martin’s largest public project to date, and it’s going to be thrilling to have this work in such an important location in the city.
A graduate of New York’s Columbia University MFA program, Basher has exhibited widely internationally. Though primarily a painter, he has made a number of public sculptures, including a major commission for The Public Art Fund, New York’s leading presenter of public art. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious residencies including: The La Brea Residency in Los Angeles, the McCahon Residency in Auckland, New Zealand, The AAI residency in New York, and the Susan Goodman Residency in Berlin; and his work features in numerous public and private collections in the United States and New Zealand.
Basher says of Big Flowers for a Wild City: “The four seven-metre floral arrangements will sit in their plinth ‘vases,’ owning this monumental plaza. The low-relief sculptures with their high gloss, pearlescent and day-glow pigments will rise up against the thrumming city back-drop. Constructed of steel and wood, the work will be a thrilling pop of colour against the muted hues of Te Papa and its surrounding buildings.
“Their height will vie with the scale of the surrounding architecture and punch out against the skyline, bounding the entrance to Te Papa with a scale and ambition befitting the setting,” he said.
In this, the 20th year since the Trust instigated the Award, it is great to have something so celebratory and bold installed on this important site.
Big Flowers for a Wild City is the third commission under the partnership with the Post family, celebrating and commemorating the life of Collin Post, a long-time stalwart of the Trust and art and culture in Wellington more generally.
The family’s support of the Collin Post Four Plinths project enables his patronage to remain dynamic with the evolving showcase of sculpture on the 4 plinths.
Jane Black said: “The Trust’s ambition for the award is for it to be recognised as the premiere temporary sculpture award in Australasia. The selection of Martin’s work for 2026 and the current work by international designer Sabine Marcelis (currently occupying the plinths until January 2026) helps us to cement the award’s reputation and deliver on this goal.
“Martin’s work will be installed in February 2026 and will continue our aim through temporary public art works, to show-case sculptural practice on a site that provides maximum engagement for the public; while also providing a platform both figuratively and literally for artists to work in a prominent public space. This project enables all our artists to take a big step into the realm of the complexities that come with large-scale public artworks in a robust environment,” she said.
