Kiwi artists team up to support valuable humanitarian work
It’s been amazing to see all these artists putting their hands up to help . . . We’re very grateful to all of them.
NEW Zealand Red Cross is once again blown away by the generosity of local and national artists, with more than 40 teaming up to raise funds for the organisation.
For the second year running, Red Cross is holding an art auction in Dunedin, featuring artists who have been recognised nationally and, for a few, internationally.
‘‘It’s been amazing to see all these artists putting their hands up to help. Most of them are giving away a percentage of the sale to Red Cross, and some have generously donated their artwork.
‘‘We’re very grateful to all of them,’’ says Steve King, New Zealand Red Cross humanitarian services coordinator in Dunedin.
More than 70 artworks will be auctioned, from artists including Dick Frizzell, Ewan McDougall, Sue Syme, Gillian Pope, Olav Neilson, John Z. Robinson, Claire Beynon, Anita De Soto, Kathryn Madill, Geoff Williams, Rob Piggott and Pia Davie.
‘‘As well as to the artists, we are grateful to many other people who are supporting the event. These include the advertisers who have contributed to this feature, the auctioneer (Kevin Hayward), and our dedicated volunteers for supervising viewings at the gallery next week and helping out at the auction itself.
‘‘Thanks to everyone involved!’’
Entertainment will be provided before the auction by musicians led by Sean Manning, who is well known in music circles as an accomplished multiinstrumentalist, playing Irish pipes and stringed instruments.
Volunteers from the Red Cross Disaster Welfare and Support Team will serve light refreshments during the entertainment.
Proceeds will go to support the work of New Zealand Red Cross in communities across Aotearoa and around the world.
The organisation has been helping people in need for more than 100 years; its work ranges from delivering meals with a friendly chat to elderly people, helping former refugees make New Zealand their new home, and teaching lifesaving skills to children, to responding to disasters in our own backyard and sending New Zealand aid workers around the world.