Nelson art that has the people's vote

Suter Art Gallery visitors can have a say in what's on show, writes NIGEL COSTLEY.

Whatever your taste in art, from the watercolour landscapes of Victorian John Gully to the modernists such as Sir Tosswill Woollaston, you can have your say at the Suter Te Araoi o Whakatu exhibition in Nelson.

For the first time in several years the art museum's permanent collection is on display and members of the public are invited to choose their favourite work. The gallery has about 30,000 visitors annually.

"This is the public's opportunity to influence the Suter's planned $6.5 million refurbishment, the Suter Project 2000," says assistant curator James Ingle.

"It raises the public's involvement in the museum and provides a conduit for discussion," he says.

Beginning the Journey, which started on May 12 and runs until May 27, features works from several of New Zealand's best-known artists, including: John Gully, Gottfried Lindauer, Charles Goldie, Jane Evans, Philip Clairmont, Colin McCahon and Sir Tosswill Woollaston.

About 200 works cover the walls of one gallery from floor to ceiling, with several ceramic works mounted on plinths.

The public will choose favourites guided by the museum's title of "Remember, Experience and Dream," which corresponds to the past, present and future.

The most popular works will be displayed in Journeys: Remember, Experience, Dream which will run from June 9 into August. Artists and visitors will be invited to creatively interpret these works with their own stories.

"This can include all forms of expression, including music, performance and storytelling," says Ingle.

The museum will also choose three artists to present their own work inspired by this exhibition, to generate further public debate.

It will pre-select several important works as the basis for a series of presentations by art teacher Rosie Anne Pinney.

The complete permanent collection was last displayed 15 years ago says the Suter's ex-director Austin Davies: "It was a little too crowded but it proved quite an eye-opener."

Davies thinks the public having a say is a good idea because "it tends to get people involved and they look more closely than they otherwise would."

While acknowledging that this exercise in vox populi is a trip into unknown territory, Ingle thinks that something unique to Nelson will come out of it.

Everything created will be held in the museum's archive as a resource for The Suter Project 2000.

* The Suter Art Gallery, 208 Bridge St, Nelson. Ph (03) 548 4699, fax (03) 548 1236, e-mail suter@netaccess.co.nz