Students gutted by art theft

The damaged photoboard was part of a series of public artworks on display between Baycourt and Pacific Crystal Palace in Masonic Park.

Students who poured hours of their time into a public artwork for the city were gutted to find parts of it stolen over the weekend.

First-year Bay of Plenty Polytech students studying Creative Industries created photo boards to display in the arcade between the Tauranga Library and Tauranga City Council buildings during the Tauranga Arts Festival.

The photos captured 100 years of Tauranga's history, from 1900 to 2000.

Student Helen Knight said the sculpture went on display on Friday and when a group member went to see it on Sunday, three of the photos had been removed.

"They've cut the images off with a knife. I felt a bit gutted, of course. Our whole group put a whole lot of effort into that ... Just for someone to come along and deface it."

The work was part of a series of public artworks made by the students for a series called Foot Traffic which decorates the walkway between Baycourt and the Pacific Crystal Palace, Polytech group leader for media, arts and design Mary Stewart said.

"One of the things with public art is that people might add, subtract or vandalise it ...

"We all appreciate this is something that can happen."

The display was taken back to the polytech yesterday for the photos to be replaced and she hoped it would be back on display soon.

Other than the photos being removed, there had been no other vandalism and the artworks had received a lot of positive feedback, she said. It was great for the students to be able to create artwork the public could interact with, she said.

Other displays included a blackboard to write your hopes and dreams for the future on and a "create your own superhero" interactive sculpture.

Tauranga Arts Festival director Jo Bond said they were working to get the CCTV footage from the area.

It was the first time they had anything damaged. "I just think it's a real shame the work was damaged.

"I'm disappointed for them because they put so much effort in."

She said it was just the nature of public art and most of it had been very well received.

"It's great to have display art around the city adding to the vibe of it."