Crane Brothers Design Award

Crane Brothers founder, Murray Crane backs the arts with a new Laureate for DesignThe Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi is proud to announce a partnership with Murray Crane and the launch of a Laureate Award for design, awarded every second year. This new dedicated award expands The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Awards programme, and reflects a shared commitment to ensuring design is included as an art in Aotearoa New Zealand. To mark the 25th anniversary of Crane Brothers, founder Murray Crane has established the Crane Foundation – a new initiative dedicated to supporting contemporary art, design, and culture in Aotearoa New Zealand. The cornerstone to this initiative is a strategic partnership with The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi and the establishment of a Laureate Award for design. This huge act of generosity sees a 10-year commitment to recognising and celebrating exceptional design across a diverse range of disciplines, including industrial and product design, architecture, interior design, and sustainable innovation. The award of $35,000 will be gifted every second year to an outstanding design artist whose work challenges conventions, inspires new possibilities, and enriches New Zealand’s creative landscape.

Murray Crane, Founder of Crane Brothers shares: "The launch of the Crane Foundation marks a new chapter in our journey as a brand deeply embedded in New Zealand’s cultural fabric. By investing in art, design, and culture, and collaborating with the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, we aim to preserve and nurture the creative spirit that defines our nation. The Crane Brothers Design Award is just the beginning of our long-term vision to support excellence and innovation in these fields. "Jessica Palalagi, Kaiwhakahaere / General Manager of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, says: “The Crane Brothers Design Award highlights design’s essential role in serving human needs, solving problems, and bringing joy. It shapes everything from the objects we use to the spaces we inhabit and often involves collaboration. This award is a fantastic addition to our Laureate line-up, celebrating the impact of design on our taiao, our environment. Murray’s generosity recognises the importance designers have played and continue to play in all parts of our lives.” The inaugural Laureate receiving the Crane Brothers Design Award will be announced alongside the rest of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate recipients on Friday 18 October 2024 at the Laureate Awards Party in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.