Young at art set to liven up town

HANDS ON: Hoani Korewha, 13, of Featherston, contributes to Rangatahi to Rangatira's art for Youth Week.

Students collaborated to contribute to Carterton in a positive way this week.

Rangatahi to Rangatira, a youth group in Carterton, came up with the idea of "livening up" the town as part of nationwide Youth Week.

This comes after Australian revitalisation "placemaker" David Engwicht told Carterton locals they needed to take charge of livening up their town.

Wai Art trustees Anna-Marie Kingsley and John Gordon had the original idea of a semi-permanent outdoor gallery in Carterton where artists could paint on plywood and put the works up in public spaces.

Already in the outdoor gallery are works by Kingsley, Allen Batchelor, Paulette Harris, Di Batchelor, Rebekah Farr, Faye Portman, Annette Dunnage Roy, Viv Walker, Jane Giles, Linda Dennes, Nicola Sheldon, Gareth Rapson and Jann Lenihan.

The Rangatahi to Rangatira youth group takes inspiration from Wellington artist Juse1 who uses the culture and art of hip hop to influence his students: "I want to show everyone that there are positives to hip hop. It is often seen in a negative light."

The theme for Youth Week is "Be the change".

Juse1 held a session with alternative-education students explaining the history of hip-hop culture and how they could incorporate it into their art.

Rangatahi to Rangatira facilitator Rebecca Vergunst said the group would do eight works on plywood boards and would hang them "somewhere in the centre of Carterton".