Hullabaloo Art Space marks 10 years

There’s quite a Hullabaloo in Central Otago this year as some of the region’s most talented artists celebrate a decade of the Hullabaloo Art Space collective in Old Cromwell.

The artisan artist-run gallery – one of a kind for Southland and Otago - was developed by a few professional artists as an exhibition space in 2006.

The gallery now boasts 15 artists, who all take turns in its daily running.

Hullabaloo member, sculptor, Megan Huffadine said ‘‘it all started from a group of people who were passionate about creativity and having an art space where people can exhibit their work.’’

‘‘throughout that 10 years we’ve featured as many as 30 artists at different times from as far away as Dunedin, and from Hawea, Wanaka, Alexandra and Queenstown.’’

Collective artists work on duty in the gallery, selling and advising on their artworks.

There is a wealth of artistic and creative talent featured within the art space, including large oil canvas landscapes from Alexandrabased artist, and one of Hullabaloo’s originals, Nigel Wilson.

Two other Hullabaloo originals - Jillian Porteous with her beautiful paintings and ceramic work and Rachel Hirabayashi’s distinctive paintings and sculptures – like Wilson, have been featuring since day one.

The collective celebrated its first successful decade with two exhibitions.

A 10-year anniversary exhibition ‘All That Hullabaloo’ at the Lakes District Museum, which brought the gallery’s works to Arrowtown, will be held until Sunday.

‘‘We wanted to take our work beyond the local area into a larger exhibition space so people get a more in depth view of each artist’s work,’’ Huffadine said.

The second, ’Past and Present’, will be held at the Hullabaloo from August 29 until September 17, featuring invitational past and present exhibition artists.