Delighted to share this honour with Annie Mackenzie.

The Blumhardt Foundation is delighted to announce the 2024 recipients of Dame Doreen’s Gift!

Contemporary jeweller Frances Stachl (Ngāpuhi) from Whanganui will receive a gift of $10,000 from the Foundation.

“Thank you so much to the Blumhardt Foundation for this incredible, astonishing vote of confidence. As a fairly reclusive mid-career jeweller who works in the provinces rather than the city, an award like this is intensely surprising. My work is what it is because of so many other ringatoi/ringarehe Māori who have gone before me, beside me and everyone who will come after. I would not be who I am as a maker or as a person without this whakapapa and whanaungatanga. I’d also like to acknowledge the hype gangs, online and off, Māori and Tangata Tiriti. And to my littlest irāmutu, aē, this gift will buy us a LOT of aihikirīmi.” - Frances Stachl.

Dame Doreen’s Gift is presented annually to encourage an establishing artist and a mid- career artist whose craft/object art practices are outstanding and have garnered the admiration and respect of peers, sector leaders and institutions.

“Frances Stachl was awarded the gift for dedication to her practice as a self-supporting working jeweller, which balances making with selling; her development as a maker, respect for material, acknowledging her heritage and being a great support to others in the sector.” - Foundation Chair Brian Wood.