Young ones foot it in art expression
Art society’s mural sessions aim to keep creative spark strong
Nestled among the trees in the middle of Levin is an art hub desperate to lure budding artists of all ages. Horowhenua Art Society is doing its best to spark a renaissance and make sure those with an artistic itch know they can have it scratched at their studio and gallery on Bath St.
Horowhenua Art Society recently received a $3500 grant from Horowhenua District Council’s Creative Communities fund, which has gone towards different programmes aimed at engaging with all age groups.
HARTS had organised a series of free-for-all mural painting sessions. The current initiative appealed to different generations to draw murals depicting how they see Horowhenua.
Horowhenua Art Society president Marilyn Craig it was part of a deliberate attempt to boost membership to make sure the society and art scene itself continued to thrive. “It’s to draw people in,” she said. Like all community and sporting groups, it needed to keep one eye on the future when faced with an ageing membership.
A primary school-aged group earlier this month were given brushes, paints and a large piece of plywood and went to work. Their work was supervised from a distance and they were encouraged to express themselves.
And that they did. At one stage they were using their feet to apply colour as a background.
Craig said there was a danger of a generation missing out in the mural series though. Pre-school, primary school and adults were all keen to participate and were represented, but solid efforts to engage teenagers had so far met with nil response.
“So far it’s yeah . . . nah,” she said. The society had further mural painting days planned, and was aiming to have an inter-generational mural painting session. The different generations would work together on the same mural.