Join us for a kōrero facilitated by New Zealand Portrait Gallery Director Brian Wood, featuring three of this year’s Te Whanganui-a-Tara–based Adam Portraiture Award finalists: Sacha Lees, Benjamin Dellabarca, and Emma Hercus.

Sacha Lees is a Pōneke-based artist. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions, most recently at the Dowse Art Museum. Sacha won the 2020 Adam Portraiture Award, was Highly Commended for her work in 2022, and won the People’s Choice Award in 2022. She was commissioned to paint King Charles III in 2025. Sacha studied drawing in Florence, Italy, and earned First Class Honours in MFA at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University in 2024. Her paintings are held in public and private collections across Aotearoa.

Emma Hercus is a Plimmerton based painter. She has a diploma in creativity from The Learning connection and is studying towards a masters in fine art from Whitecliffe art school. Her latest solo exhibition was at Twenty Six Gallery in 2026.

Born in Wellington in 2003, Ben Dellabarca began drawing at an early age and promptly found his love for oil painting. Instead of pursuing the conventional path of formal art education, Ben sought out mentorships and communities, studying at the Wellington school of drawing followed by attending the Nerdrum school in Larkvik, Norway. These mentorships deepened his knowledge and passion for figurative art, exposing him to diverse schools of thought and methodologies, developing his technique and identity as a painter.

Accessibility Information: The New Zealand Portrait Gallery is an accessible venue, all on one level. There is an accessible wharepaku at the back of the venue. The gallery has automatic sliding doors and glass doors that can be pushed or pulled to enter. We have a wheelchair available for use within the gallery, and there is low stool seating throughout. If you have any questions regarding accessibility or if there is something we could do to make your visit easier, please get in touch.