Priscilla Pitts is a New Zealand writer and art curator.

Biography

Pitts was educated at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, gaining an MA in English and Art History. In the 1980s, Pitts co-founded the magazine ''Antic,'' which focused on literature and visual arts. She was also a frequent contributor to the journal ''Art New Zealand.'' From 1993 to 1998, Pitts was director of the

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The gallery receives core funding from the New Plymouth District Council. Govett-Brewster is recognised internationally for contemporary art. H ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

. She then moved to Dunedin and from 1998 to 2007 she was director of the

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as t ...

and

Otago Settlers Museum Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second larges ...

. Between 2007 and 2014, Pitts had a managerial role at the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. Since that time she has worked as a freelance writer and curator, working from

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

. In 2017 she co-wrote a book on the history of the

Frances Hodgkins Fellowship The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, established in 1962, is one of New Zealand's premier arts residencies. The list of past fellows includes many of New Zealand's most notable artists. The position is based at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New ...

Publications

*''Contemporary New Zealand Sculpture'' (1998), David Bateman *''Undreamed of…50 Years of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship'' (2017, with Andrea Hotere), Otago University Press

References

Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand women writers New Zealand art historians University of Auckland alumni New Zealand women curators {{NewZealand-writer-stub