Ōtautahi Christchurch artist Mollie Shaw has come full circle with SCAPE Public Art.
Five years after being named a winner in SCAPE’s student public art competition (now called Inside Out), she has been selected as one of the featured artists in SCAPE Public Art Season 2025.
As a secondary school student, Shaw’s winning sculpture design, The Strong Woman, was celebrated for its bold vision and youthful energy. The recognition affirmed her creative path and helped shape her development as an artist. Now she is returning to SCAPE as a professional, joining a lineup of contemporary artists from Aotearoa and beyond whose works will bring life to public spaces all summer.
“Mollie’s journey epitomises what SCAPE is about—nurturing talent, fostering connections with public space, and supporting artists to grow from the classroom to international platforms,” says Rachel Jefferies, Executive Director of SCAPE Public Art. “Inside Out gives young people the chance to imagine their own public art around the city, and Mollie shows what can happen when those ideas are encouraged.”
Of her public art debut at age 18, Mollie Shaw says “having your idea made into something tangible was quite mind-blowing.” Although she’d always wanted to be an artist, her experience with SCAPE Public Art expanded her sense of the career possibilities, she says, “it made me realise that there are no limitations.”
Shaw graduated from the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, at the end of 2024. Her involvement in Season 2025 is the serendipitous result of a deepening relationship between Ilam and SCAPE; her work was spotted by SCAPE Managing Curator Tyson Campbell when he visited Ilam’s 2024 graduating exhibition.
More about Mollie’s work for SCAPE Season 2025.