SUPPORTING CANTERBURY ARTISTS SINCE 2011

Since 2011 when many of the city’s art galleries were damaged or destroyed, Murray & Co has sought to support Canterbury artists by featuring their work in a regular exhibition series. In the early years, exhibitions were held in the offices of Murray & Co. More recently, interesting locations in the emerging City have been used for exhibition purposes. For some artists, it has meant selling work for the first time, and for others, a Murray & Co exhibition has acted as a stepping-stone to dealer gallery relationships.

We work closely with the School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury and its wonderful students. Often during their Masters or Honours years, such students are looking for a way into the world of becoming a professional artist. In 2019, we unveiled some fresh new works from a line up of talented emerging artists most of whom were studying or had recently graduated from UC's School of Fine Arts. The 2019 Murray & Co Exhibition for Emerging Canterbury Artists took place at the old National Bank Building at 110 Armagh Street. The exhibition occurred within the Christchurch Arts Festival programme (26 July to 4 August) and included:

Richard Elderton, Min Her, Sarah Hodgkinson, Blair Hoets, Micaela Irvine, Jackson Kearney, Viv Kepes, Liam Krijgsman, Vivienne Murchison, Hannah Phillips, Lee Richardson, Alicia Skeaff, Samantha Walker, Emma Wallbanks and Vickey Zeng.

Our thanks go to these artists, the ones that have gone before them – and to UC’s School of Fine Arts who continue to support their undergraduates and graduates to flourish and grow their practices through such initiatives with the wider community.

We also continue to enjoy sponsoring the School of Fine Arts own exhibitions at the Ilam Campus at the University of Canterbury throughout the university year.