Top Art exhibition launches for 2022

4 March 2022

Looking down a corridor with the walls covered in pictures.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) kicked off the 2022 Top Art exhibition this week, displaying a selection of 59 portfolios by students who achieved Excellence in NCEA Level 3 last year.

This annual touring exhibition is coordinated by NZQA and showcases the five fields of NCEA Level 3 Visual Arts: design, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. Several of the artists featured were awarded New Zealand Scholarships for their work.

The exhibition will be at Te Ara Hihiko on the Massey University Wellington campus until 10 March, before dividing into two tours that will visit over 30 schools, museums, community centres and galleries throughout the country until October.

“The Top Art exhibition is an opportunity for students to celebrate their achievement with whānau, friends and teachers,” says NZQA Chief Executive, Dr Grant Klinkum.

“Students created outstanding work in such a challenging year, and we have selected just a small sample of what was produced at this level in schools across the country,” Dr Klinkum says.

Though a launch event was regrettably unable to take place this year, the tour remains just as popular as ever. Current students, teachers, and the public are encouraged to get along and view the high calibre of work being produced by students studying visual arts in New Zealand.

For more information about the exhibition and to see the tour schedule on our website:

Top Art Exhibition 2023 (external link)