Artists’ exhibition rises from the floods
In a summer of floods and cancelled events, the Golden Bay Art Expo opened its doors last night for a month-long exhibition.
More than 30 artists are presenting their work in a makeshift gallery on Commercial St in Takaka, hoping to share their visions of the bay with tourists and travellers.
A rare combination of available short-term retail space and local funding allowed Grant Knowles to get the Art Expo off the ground.
With parts of Golden Bay still reeling from the flood and businesses feeling the pinch, Mr Knowles said the timing was just right to help artists with a new gallery.
‘‘The timing is brilliant,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s been a fairly lean summer for a lot of businesses in Takaka and probably a lot of artists, too.’’
The funding from TDC Creative Communities and the Bruce King Trust allowed Mr Knowles to offer commission-free sales to the artists.
They contribute to the costs of the show through small ‘‘rental’’ fees for their wall space.
Painter and decoupage artist Debbie Bradley was delighted by the chance to show her work to visitors in the centre of Takaka. ‘‘This is a great opportunity for me,’’ she said.
‘‘I have nowhere to put my work and I’m just at home on my own doing art for hours.
‘‘I don’t have a lot of money, anyway, so $40 [fee] works out at $10 a week and I can rotate works if they sell.’’
As chairman of the Golden Bay Arts Council, Mr Knowles has a long track record of promoting local artists. He said the Art Expo was less about presenting for the community and more about showing visitors what Golden Bay artists were up to.
‘‘This is not about displaying our work to each other in the bay, because we do that at Bay Art,’’ Mr Knowles said. ‘‘This is really for the people coming in from out of town who want to have a look at good art and purchase it.’’
The works on display run the gamut from sculpted didgeridoos to photo-realistic oil paintings.
Geoffrey Heath is a much-loved local landscape painter who lost more than 20 paintings when flood waters washed through his studio. Some of the smaller works he displayed at the Art Expo were rescued from the flood. ‘‘The small ones were painted with acrylic paint so they were waterproof,’’ he said.
‘‘My son dove down into chestdeep water and pulled them out of the mud in my studio. Then we had to clean it off and tidy it up, but they are now on display.’’
Heath has had an illustrious career as a painter and teacher, even mentoring legendary New Zealand artist Bill Hammond. While his works are displayed elsewhere in the region, Heath greatly appreciated the chance to take part in the Art Expo.
Mr Knowles waived rental fees for flood-affected artists like Heath and Lynn Udell.