Kelliher Art Prize 1969

There were a record 592 entries and of those 145 were chosen for display at this exhibition. Landscapes, portraits and figure studies were included.

Wellington artist Roger Harrison was the first prize winner with his oil painting, Totara Flat Hut. Austen Deans won second prize, and Colin Wheeler, third.

According to Bill Sutton in a press review, the competition was popular among painters and laymen who enjoy light-weight anecdotal pictures, but other competitions now catered for the more sensitive and adventurous painters in the community.