Art by the Truckload
This Saturday (August 20) New Zealand’s biggest travelling art collection, the Real Art Roadshow, will be parked at Waitakere College and open free to the public from 11am to 3pm.
The mobile art gallery is actually one of two huge trucks, that unfold to form an 80 square metre space and each displays more than 60 original artworks by some of New Zealand’s leading artists.
The collection features both renowned and emerging artists, and crosses a variety of genres including painting, sculpture, photography, jewellery and ceramic art.
The photos (above and below) give an idea of how the truck transforms into a walk-through gallery.
This could be the last chance to see these works in West Auckland, as owner Fiona Campbell is looking for a buyer for the project and is not planning to continue touring after September this year. The Roadshow is run as a not-for-profit organisation that has relied on a number of sponsors to keep it trucking since 2009.
Philanthropist Fiona Campbell was one of several small investors in TradeMe who received several million dollars when Sam Mogan sold the company in 2006 for $750 million.
With her windfall, she decided to buy $1.8 million worth of art, formed the Real Art Road Show Charitable Trust and set it travelling around New Zealand to share these treasures with school communities.
She knew that many people had only encountered New Zealand art through textbooks and web images, and wanted them to experience original art. Fiona has recently been awarded an MNZM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for Services to Art Philanthropy.
This Saturday Waitakere College is combining this travelling show of NZ art that will be parked in the school grounds, with an additional exhibition of around 75 works by other NZ artiists who are offering their exhibited works for sale on the day. Many West Auckland artists’ works feature in the sale, including work by renowned KareKare painter Dean Buchanan.
Sir Bob Harvey (six-term Mayor of Waitakere city 1992-2010) will be attending and has been very supportive of the Art Expo weekend, encouraging artists to be involved, as he has a long time personal interest in the creative industries for the region.
This is the first time that the College has run such a large scale art event, and marks the launch of the school’s new Charitable Trust, the Waitakere College Foundation. Each artist is donating a minimum of 30 per cent of their sale price to the Trust , which manages the funds to help disadvantaged students.
General public from across Auckland are invited to be part of this one-time only opportunity, visiting this huge combined collection of NZ Art for free, and perhaps purchasing some of it for a worthy cause.
Waitakere College Auditorium, 42 Rathgar Rd, Henderson
11am - 3pm, Saturday 20
August www.realartroadshow.co.nz