Auction a $25k lifeline for charity
Palmerston North art lovers have thrown a $25,000 lifeline to a women’s health group struggling to survive its funding being slashed in half.
The money was raised at a charity auction at Te Manawau on Thursday, which featured nearly 70 works donated by emerging and established city artists.
The amount raised is nearly a third of the funding Te Ha¯ o Hineahu-one, Women’s Health Collective, lost when the Midcentral District Health Board didn’t renew its contract with the group last month.
The collective’s manager Jean Hera said she was blown away by the generosity of the artists and the 200 people who attended the evening.
The collective has provided a safe harbour for women seeking access to health services, such as pregnancy tests and cervical smears, and support reaching other social agencies since 1984.
The collective helped nearly 6000 women in 2018 alone, often fighting for vulnerable women during the toughest times of their lives.
Thanks to the community’s efforts that would continue, with the money raised so far buying time for the collective to seek new health funding, Hera said.
People had stepped up even before the auction, giving $5000 in direct donations or through Givealittle
The auction collected more than $23,000 on the night and another $2000 so far from after sales of the artworks that hadn’t sold at the auction.
Paul and Fran Dibble, Gary Collins, Dick Frizzell, Naga Tsutsumi, Emma Louise Pratt and Sarah Platt were among the well-known artists to put their work up for sale to support the cause.
As was Anton Parsons, creator of Palmerston North’s first public sculpture, Numbers.
‘‘What was lovely too, was that some of the art provided by more unknown artists was by women who experience abuse and health issues themselves,’’ Hera said.
Paul Dibble’s bronze sculpture
Swimming Hole at Kahuterawa was the biggest earner of the night, going for about $3500.
‘‘The Dick Frizzell painting
[Large Vase] also went for a lot of money, well above its $1500 reserve, and Emma Louise Pratt’s big and beautiful oil painting of Foxton Beach went for about $2000.
‘‘Those were the top three.’’