The CPIT Scholarship is awarded for excellence in studies at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, and the University of Canterbury Scholarship to a final-year student at the University of Canterbury. In alternating years the prize is open to a student in Art History and Fine Arts for excellence in their endeavour of study. The value of each prize is $1,500.

The Friends' Scholarship winners are announced annually at the AGM.

The recipient of the 2012 University of Canterbury Scholarship, Petrena Fishburn, is completing her Honours degree in Art History. Her special research project is an examination of the origins of the first professional dealer art gallery in Canterbury – the Brooke Gifford Gallery, which was established in 1975.

The 2012 recipient of the CPIT Scholarship, Missy Bennetts, is in the third and final year of her study in visual arts, focusing on printmaking and book art. Her theme for the year is ‘Hair’, which, when examined from a range of cultural and historical perspectives, is a complex topic.