Art and wine to lift the mood

An art and wine fair re-vamped over lockdown is the postpandemic ‘‘light at the end of the tunnel’’ for Marlborough artists.

Beginning later this month, 24 artists will display their works over a 12-week period at the Wine Station, located at the Blenheim Railway Station.

Visitors can enjoy the display alongside a wine tasting, and a portion from the sale of artworks will go to half a dozen local charities, kicking off with Hospice Marlborough for the first week.

Blenheim semi-professional sculptor Gerard Verkaaik said the fair would be ‘‘a shot in the arm’’ for Marlborough artists after the setbacks of coronavirus.

Although lockdown could be a productive time creatively, the industry would feel the commercial effects of the economic downturn, he said.

‘‘Lockdown is a godsend for artists, because we’re pretty much solitary people that work on their own,’’ he said.

‘‘So I was quite comfortable, I got one major work done which is now at Artofact gallery in Picton.

‘‘But from a commercial point of view it’s a difficult time ... Artists are particularly vulnerable to economic downturn.

‘‘It’s not on the forefront of the shopping list to go buy paintings or sculptures.’’

Verkaaik had been a regular sculptor for 15 years and created pieces from Oamaru stone. Three or four would feature at the Art and Wine Fair throughout the 12-week period, he said.

He said the fair would lift the spirits of local artists and encourage Marlburians to enjoy homegrown talent.

‘‘It will be good to have an outlet for local artists in the CBD in Blenheim, both for the CBD and the artists here,’’ he said.

‘‘Longer term, with the library and gallery build, there’s a greater opportunity to really provide a platform for local art.’’

The fair was originally planned for the Marlborough Convention Centre earlier this month and was to only run for a week.

Since receiving more interest than they expected, director Kirsty Parry said they had decided to extend the fair over 12 weeks.

‘‘We just thought that with everything that happened with Covid, there’s obviously an interest in Marlborough and also such great local talent,’’ she said.

The fair was also hoped to foster local creativity in economically uncertain times for the arts.

‘‘In a short time frame this was the easiest way to put something together, to re-format it and breathe life into it again,’’ she said.

‘‘We’re hoping this is a good reason for people to come out and see something different all in one venue.’’

Considering this event would have been impossible a few months ago, the fair was also a celebration of the freedoms of alert level one, the ‘‘moving goal post’’ event organisers had been working towards.

Kicking off on June 29 at the Wine Station, the fair would run until September 27, open 11am – 6pm daily.

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Marlborough sculptor Gerard Verkaaik said the Art and Wine Fair was a ‘‘shot in the arm’’ for artists.