PhoneArt proves popular
The first round of Arts Council Nelson’s PhoneArt exhibition at the Elma Turner Library attracted 130 entries.
The exhibition ran for three weeks and the entries included dozens of old unwanted mobile phones made into little pieces of art.
Arts Council Nelson administrator Heidi Lucas said some examples of what the cases had been turned into were a minion, a rocket, a Hector’s dolphin and a pineapple.
Lucas said a total of 450 votes were collected over the course of the three weeks.
She said anyone could submit an entry.
‘‘We’re not limited by space because they’re so small and everyone has a phone.’’
‘‘We put a callout for donations of old phones at the council and got many, many donations.’’
The people’s choice winner was 16-year-old Shania Kuipers from Waimea College, who won a Nexus 5X smartphone from Nelson’s Warehouse Stationery.
Kuipers said she didn’t even know she entered into a competition when she decorated the case at school.
‘‘The teacher asked if we wanted to decorate a phone case and I thought, yeah sweet.’’
She said she was very surprised to find out she had won and said it was ‘‘lucky’’ and ‘‘random’’.
Kuipers said she used a layer of glue, tissues, plaster and fake nails to make the hand holding the case and it took her a week to finish.
The showcase of all the entries has also been at Richmond Library and can be found at Motueka Library from February 27 to March 4, then at Murchison Library from March 6 to 20 and finally at Mapua Library from March 27 to April 17.