Public art
THE Advisory Panel for Public Art (APPA) celebrated their achievements of 2009 at a conference at Auckland’s The Art Lounge in December last year. They showed details of public art commissions already awarded including Fort St, Fort Lane, Darby St, and Link Lane by Eden Park. The panel comprised of professionals leading in their respective disciplines including Auckland Art Gallery director Chris Saines and Architect Nicholas Stevens.

Easter is coming
ARTISTS as young as 10 years old have a chance of winning an art award with a prize pool of more than $40,000. The Royal Easter Show Art Awards, New Zealand’s largest open art competition, are open to artists of all ages from amateur to professional. Around 2,000 artists enter in a range of categories including painting, photography, printmaking, ceramics. This year’s theme is Reflections of New Zealand. Entries close February 26, and will be displayed at the Royal Easter Show at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds, April 1-5.

Art to exSplore
AN interactive visual art programme will take centre stage at the eighth Splore festival at Tapapakanga Regional Park from February 19 - 21.  The biennale three-day festival includes works by architects, film makers, painters, writers, video artists, sculptors, photographers, and performers. New Art Curator Shea O’Neill says the programme will see installations weave through the site. “Expect retro, giant, neon, steam-pink, cycle-powered, nude, time travelling, pop art, multimedia, experimental, interactive,  fun,” says O’Neill.

Walker’s choice
THE former director of TheNewDowse Tim Walker has become the first curator of the Creative Hawke’s Bay Invitational.  In previous years, a selection panel came up with a list of invited artists, but this time artists submitted their work to Walker who picked 32. The invitational is a major contemporary art exhibition. The selected artists all have a link to the Hawke’s Bay, and range from well established to emerging artists – including Des Helmore, Sara McIntyre, Prakash Patel and David Trubridge. The invitational will be held at the Hastings City Art Gallery, April 10-June 27.

Winning building
OTAGO Polytechnic’s new Art School building has won a 2009 Southern Architecture Award. The $3 million building, designed by Dunedin firm McCoy and Wixon Architects, won recognition in the Public Architecture category, organised by the New Zealand institute of Architects.  The building is a simple two-storey shed that includes an art gallery used by staff and students.

Public choose portrait
FOR the first time the public will select their favourite portrait in the 2010 New Zealand Portrait Gallery Adam Portraiture Award, opening on February 24. “The artist of the most popular portrait will receive a special $2,000 prize while the overall winner receives $15,000,” says gallery director Avenal McKinnon. Andrew Sayers, director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia is the judge for the overall 2010 award. A record number of 311 entries have been received.

Council supports art
THE Christchurch City Council has launched its Challenge Grant Scheme in support of the Christchurch Art Gallery, as part of its Long Term Council Community Plan. The scheme will see the council match funds raised by the Christchurch Art Gallery Trust up to a set amount annually for the next 10 years to help the gallery purchase a significant amount of art. The Trust was established in 1991 by the Friends of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

It’s alive
A Maori artist has created artificial muscles using cutting-edge technology developed at the University of Auckland.  Katherine Ngatai received a Smash Palace Creative New Zealand grant to create Maori painted designs made of plastic and electro-active polymers at the university’s Biomimetics Laboratory to make her designs move. The grant supports collaborations between artists and scientist on an art project. Ngatai’s artwork is part of a project called Live Sculptures and Soft Machines. “These designs are just a starting point. I’d love to show people this technology in action,” says Ngatai.

Furniture history
THE first New Zealand Furniture History Symposium heads to Invercargill in October. The event showcases the works of early furniture makers in New Zealand, which will be exhibited at the Southland Museum & Art Gallery from October 8 to 10. Guest speakers include Christchurch’s William Cottrell, a leading antique restorer who is recognised as an authority on early New Zealand furniture.

Museum gets $10 million
CANTERBURY Museum has received the largest gift in its 130 year history, a $10 million posthumous donation from Arthur Henry Harrison, a retired company secretary. The Adson charitable trust , purchase historical items for public display at the museum. Harrison died in November last year in his Blenheim home. He left instructions in his will for the Adson Trust. The name is derived from his wife’s maiden name, Adams, and his own.

Govett-Brewster’s 40th
NEW Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery turns 40 this year. To celebrate, a year-long programme of events has been organised, kicking off with an artist-led multimedia and performance event on March 27. “The street party is a fitting commemoration for the gallery’s achievements to date,” says Govett-Brewster Director Rhana Devenport.  Artist John Reynolds will exhibit Nomadology [Loitering With Intent] especially for the anniversary, from March 27 to June 13.

Museum controversy
IT is unclear whether the performance dispute between Auckland Museum Director Vanda Vitali and the museum’s board has been resolved. In December last year the board began conducting a performance review with Vitali that involved rigorous debate “over matters of concern to the board”.
“The issue is a personal employment matter so we can’t comment,” says museum spokesperson Laura Westphal. The Canadian director, who came from a senior role at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, has been at the centre of several controversies.

New Auckland gallery
ELAM School of Fine Arts, at the University of Auckland, opens a new gallery in March. Called projectspaceB431 and located at Whitaker Place, it will present workshops, exhibitions, and events by staff and students. “Galleries situated within a university provide a space for students to test ideas,” says Elam Head, Jonathan Mane-Wheoki.  Other highlights will be an Elam Jubilee exhibition, celebrating 60 years since the school joined the university.

A roundabout way
MORE than 100 works by artists from New Zealand, India, China, South Korea, Thailand and Tibet will feature in the City Gallery’s new exhibition roundabout. The international exhibition has a distinctly New Zealand flavour with Maori and Pacific artists contributing. The exhibition opens on September 25 and includes Shane Cotton, John Pule and Michael Parekowhai. The works were selected by Senior Curator Heather Galbraith and roundabout project curators David Teplitzky and Julie Paama Pengelly.

Two new galleries
WELLINGTON’S JJMorgan and Co opened in February with Spreading Blankets on the Beach, curated by Melanie Moreau. The gallery at 3 Cruikshank St Lyall Bay features the work of seven artists including Victoria Birkinshaw, Steve Carr and James R Ford. Meanwhile Prime Minister John Key opened The Long Gallery at The Museum Hotel on February 9.  Museum director Chris Parkin, has an extensive art collection already decking the halls of the hotel.

Art Roadshow winner
OUR youngest major arts philanthropist and director of the Real Art Roadshow Fiona Campbell won the Supreme Award at the 12th National Business Review’s Sponsorship of the Arts Awards. The Roadshow, one of New Zealand’s largest art exhibitions visits schools free of charge. The exhibition is housed in two trucks that unfold featuring more than 60 pieces of original art. The Art Roadshow toured more than 200 secondary schools nationwide in 2008 and 2009, attracted over 100,000 visitors and will continue touring for the next eight years.