‘‘REALLY HAPPY WITH THE RESULT’’
A sparkly penguin inspired by a pair of sequinned hot pants was the breakout star in a march of million dollar penguins at a charity auction this week.
A flurry of bidding at the Pop Up Penguins charity auction on Wednesday raised a total of more than $1 million.
The 50 giant penguins, which were each decorated by a different New Zealand artist, enlivened Canterbury after they were installed in public places from Rangiora to Akaroa in December and January.
A sparkly penguin clad in 6400 acrylic gems, designed by Christchurch artist and dance instructor Deb Robinson, was one of two artworks that sold for the highest price at the auction.
Robinson said she was ‘‘thrilled’’ the penguin artwork, called Shy-no-more, sold for $36,000.
The artwork was inspired by her love of sparkly dancing clothes and a particular pair of sequinned hot pants she bought in a Sydney boutique.
She said it took about 390 hours to decorate the penguin. Her research of yellow eyed penguins revealed they were very shy.
‘‘He wants to go out and dance. He wants to have a good time,’’ she said. ‘‘This guy is not shy any more.’’
The penguin was purchased by Harcourts Grenadier Real Estate managing director Andy Freeman.
‘‘I just loved it from day one,’’ he said. ‘‘It is the premium penguin.’’
Harcourts, which ran the auction, also bought two other penguins.
About $750,000 of the money raised will be donated to the Cholmondeley Children’s Centre.
Centre fundraising and marketing manager Tanya Cooke said the money would help them meet their $2.1 million operating budget after the Covid-19 pandemic meant they had to cancel fundraising plans and led to increased costs.
Wild in Art event producer Claire Cowles, who organised Pop Up Penguins, said the auction sales totalled $1,005,500.
Cowles said she was happy to see the penguins sell for more than double the amount raised during the Christchurch Stands Tall giraffe trail in 2014.
She was pleased many of the penguins sold for more than expected. ‘‘There were a lot of anomalies where I thought, ‘they won’t go for much’, and then they went for loads more than I expected.
Steampunk inspired Punk It Penguin, which was installed in Cathedral Junction in central Christchurch, was the most popular on the trail.
It sold to a local steampunk fan for about $20,000, outbidding Waitaki District mayor Gary Kircher who had been keen to buy it for New Zealand’s steampunk headquarters, Oamaru.