Kumeu Childrens Art Club. Photo / Sarah Ellis-Kirifi
Kumeu Childrens Art Club. Photo / Sarah Ellis-Kirifi
Respected artist Shona Hammond-Boys chose Opotiki on the East Cape, the first place in the world to see the sun rise, as the perfect place to retire. She moved into a 100-year-old kauri cottage and set about restoring both herself and her new home.
A local policeman, hearing of her move and knowing of her passion for young people, asked for her help in turning around the worrying level of graffiti in the town.
Years earlier, she had founded Children's Art Houses, originally on Auckland's North Shore. The New Zealand Art House Foundation was also set up to work in the initial stages with communities, in New Zealand and around the world, to find buildings, work with authorities for suitable facilities and policies, as well as offer to train staff. The various art houses then took on a life of their own according to the community they served.
Art houses of all shapes and sizes and affiliated clubs are dotted around the country. Sadly, many go by the wayside when sporting clubs take over, something Shona and her art house leaders have been fighting a battle against.
Liking a challenge, Shona took up the policeman's offer and in 2008 she created a youth art project to create murals all over the tiny, historic town. I meet her on a sunny morning for the Young Art in Public Places mural tour to see just how important art has become in Opotiki.
People stop to wave and acknowledge their resident artist - including past students and parents of children she's put right by teaching them to believe in their inert creative abilities.
Kumeu Children's Art Club fosters a warm, creative environment. Photo / Sarah Ellis-Kirifi
While many of her students start with no knowledge of art, they bring with them knowledge of another kind. One of the murals she shows me is a layered bush scene with bright flora and fauna and Shona explains that the children know a lot about the bush having spent their childhood's pig hunting with their parents. This knowledge makes their paintings like no other.
There are also lovely scenes of townsfolk fishing for whitebait with large nets, go-kart races, a giant mud slide and further along the tour, there are Maori stories interweaved into the artwork. It's as if all the town's happy memories are placed up there on the walls for the locals to walk past each day to their schools and jobs - a constant reminder of brighter days.
It's not just the people of Opotiki who acknowledge Shona's achievements in helping children through art, she was also given a Queen's Service Medal. Her NZCAHF's are spreading their wings with the Australian headquarters, ironically based at The Sport House on the Gold Coast, opened last year. There's also interest from America.
On a visit to an NNZCAHF-affiliated club at the Kumeu Arts Centre, I witness an after-school session that lasts three hours in a warm, social environment. Some of the kids who went to the original sessions here seventeen years ago are now using their creative skills in a professional capacity as book illustrators or film animators.
Kids hammer in the woodworking section, or work on dot artwork techniques from inspiration on the board of photographed aboriginal artworks. A large knitted net with fish hangs high on the wall behind them.
Christine Rose, Kumeu Arts Centre chairperson, says they took the Children's Art House model and adapted it to what's viable within their own special community.
"We are aligned with the culture of peace, loving art and being kind to each other," explains Christine. "The NZCAHF ethos informs all we do."
One of the more delightful art classes they're running is one where the children can bring a parent or grandparent and connect through art as partners on artworks using family photos, stories and objects to make an album with a difference.
All the NZCAHF representatives I spoke to told of the difficulties in keep art front of mind in their communities and I'm reminded of the famous quote by Pablo Picasso, who said, "Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up."
Wearing two long, white plaits and the smile of a child, Shona has had no problem staying true to her artistic notions or bringing out the artist in children, she's having a harder time convincing the powers-that-be that being an artist is just as valuable as being an athlete. For all our sakes, let's hope she stays out of retirement for a little bit longer.
Need to know
Children's art classes under the Children's Art House are in Youth Town, Devonport Community House and Kumeu. School holiday programmes include working with puppets, clay and treasure boxes.
