“It was really good to see them step up and advancing in their education. The work Vicki made is pushing the boundaries and being quite innovative.”
Her exhibition will be in February and March next year.
According to Redding’s report, costs of $409,198 were expected for the 2023/24 financial year, which would be offset by revenue of $358,000.
The glassworks attracted 36,929 visitors in the 2022/2023 financial year.
Redding said this year’s Art Glass exhibition had been the biggest to date with 15 artists involved, including New Zealanders based in Australia.
Creative New Zealand provided $9500 for Fanning’s art-in-residence programme, he said.
“We’ve just put in one [application] for the internship and I think we’re going for around about $36,000.
“All we can go for with Creative New Zealand currently is for stipends - all the money goes directly to the artist or to people employed by the artist.”
Mayor Andrew Tripe asked if any other funding mechanisms were available, as there seemed to be large pots of money that were forgotten about in central government.
Redding said there would be but his focus had been on Creative New Zealand - to “get into a six-figure category”.
Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan asked how much ratepayers contributed to the facility.
Community and customer experience general manager Marianne Cavanagh said chief financial officer Mike Fermor was providing a full annual report and it would be more appropriate to wait until then.
Redding said there were three UCOL students currently studying at the glassworks. However, it didn’t play a part in student numbers or have a target in place but simply made the facility available for hire.
There had been a noticeable drop in higher-valued works being sold at the facility’s shop but Glassworks had ensured there was a broader range of works at a lower price point, his report said.
Councillor Rob Vinsen asked if any work had been done to look into a renewable energy source as the council had targets around reducing emissions.
Redding said the gas equipment had been upgraded two years ago and a new furnace had a heat reticular.
“That had brought our gas usage down by 40 per cent.
“I think we are meeting those targets when it comes to being environmentally friendly.”
A switch to electric furnaces would result in more maintenance in the long run and using biofuel could involve going to 30 fish and chip shops to collect oil, Redding said.
The smell would be “absolutely repulsive”.
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
