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Ann Shelton, A library to scale, part II, Marshland Hill, FB Butler Collection, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth, 2006, photographic series, displayed on video animation. In Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Awards, at Waikato Museum, 1 Grantham Street, Hamilton, until 22 October. Visit www.waikatomuseum.co.nz.

The Titirangi Years – out in the bush

After years of careful restoration, the McCahon House, the home of Colin McCahon, his wife Anne and their children from 1953 to 1960, in Auckland’s bush-covered hills of Titirangi, is complete and the accompanying residency program has been put in place. Both projects are the fulfilment of a decade's planning by the McCahon House Trust. Now, launching the project at Titirangi’s Lopdell House Gallery, there is an exhibition called Colin McCahon – the Titirangi years on show until 8 October. The Titirangi years are regarded as the watershed of Colin McCahon's career and the exhibition will feature important works from each of McCahon's major series in this period  including Towards Auckland, Kauri, Manakau, French Bay, Titirangi and the Elias series. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be The wake 1958, McCahon's largest painting, a huge sixteen-panel work developed from poems by John Caselberg. Visit www.lopdell.org.nz.

Waikato Art Awards

The 2006 winner of the Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award 2006 has been announced in Hamilton. Judge Mercedes Vincente, who is the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, selected the work of Ann Shelton from the forty-eight finalists to receive the $15,000 prize. Shelton's winning entry is entitled A library to scale, part II, Marsland Hill, FB Butler collection, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. The work shows a series of photographs, displayed on video animation, which focus on one of the scrapbooks produced by Frederick B Butler. To see more, visit www.annshelton.com. Frederick B Butler created hundreds of wallpaper-covered scrapbooks, pasted with newspaper clippings, covering six decades; and Shelton's winning work focused on one of the books, Marsland Hill. The awards are on display at the Waikato Museum until 22 October.

Craft alive and well

Craftwerk is a Wellington initiative that has developed its own ‘indie’ craft experience – arts and crafts fairs with a difference. They take a lo-fi approach to helping young and emerging NZ crafters, artists, zine makers and bands to showcase and sell their work. They launched in Auckland last month and plan to continue the fairs at St Kevin’s Arcade, Karangahape Road, Newton, on a regular basis. The arcade, lined with underground record stores, secondhand shops and groovy cafes, was packed with young artists and musicians, students and craft fans on the first night – sales were brisk. Visit www.craftwerk.co.nz.

Walters Prize Judge and Dates

Auckland Art Gallery (AAG) has announced the international judge for the upcoming Walters Prize, modelled on the Turner Prize, and held at the gallery every two years as a way of celebrating achievements in contemporary art by New Zealand artists. The judge is Italian contemporary art curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, the artistic director of the 2008 Sydney Biennale, chief curator at the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art in Turin, and formerly senior curator at New York’s PS1 Contemporary Art Centre. Finalists selected are Stella Brennan, Phil Dadson, Peter Robinson and Francis Upritchard. The winner receives $50,000 plus an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to exhibit their work. The exhibition runs from 2 September to 19 November at the New Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery. Visit www.aucklandartgallery.govt.nz.

Seniors make music

In a project organised by Te Tuhi – The Mark, a gallery and community centre in Pakuranga, Auckland, sound and video artist Sean Kerr recently worked with a group of seniors who meet at the centre to learn about computers and the internet. Pakuranga’s SeniorNet Club members collaborated with Kerr to perform an orchestral piece for multiple computers at a performance in July. The video of that performance continues in exhibition until 27 September at the gallery. This is the first of a series of projects called Interact!, curated by Emma Bugden that draws on the unique nature of Te Tuhi as a cutting-edge gallery embedded into a local community base. Next, Seung Yul Oh will work with the local kindergarten to create a playground of playful sculptures.