NZ Glassworks gallery assistant Jaki Wilkins with Memory Dance by Evelyn Dunstan.
Photo/Stuart Munro
NZ Glassworks gallery assistant Jaki Wilkins with Memory Dance by Evelyn Dunstan.
Photo/Stuart Munro
New Zealand Glassworks - Te Whare Tuhua o Te Ao in Whanganui have plenty to celebrate this month as it approaches its second birthday.
"With so much artistic talent in Whanganui, we want to invite the community to help us celebrate with a fun competition," said manager Scott Redding.
The contest is open to all ages, with one category for entrants of 12 years and under and another for 13 years and over.
The winning design from each category will be made into an artwork by a team of glass artists and the designer will get to keep it.
NZ Glassworks hosted Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, during her recent visit to Whanganui, where she made her own paperweight and purchased an artwork from the current exhibition.
Skeleton - Yellow (Kaupapa) by Evelyn Dunstan is one of the works in Collective Imagination - a group exhibition including works by Dunstan, Katie Brown, Kathryn Wightman, Emma Camden, Claudia Borella, Phillip Stokes, Wendy Fairclough and David Murray on show until October 31.
Kaupapa by Evelyn Dunstan was purchased by Dame Patsy Reddy during her recent visit to NZ Glassworks.
A $34,000 funding boost approved by Whanganui District Council in April means that the Rutland St glassworks and gallery is now open year-round and gallery assistant Jaki Wilkins has been employed.
Wilkins moved to Whanganui from Auckland a year ago and has been working as a casual assistant at the Sarjeant Gallery.
"I have worked in local government for many years and the nice thing about working here is how happy everyone is.
"Although I have always enjoyed interacting with visitors, people who visit council offices are often unhappy about things like rates or dog registrations but the people who come here are just delighted by what they see."
Redding said it is great to have Wilkins on board and her employment means that there is now enough staffing to cover statutory and Christmas holidays.
Whanganui District Council's charitable trust purchased the glass facility from artists Katie Brown and Lyndsay Patterson, who previously ran it as private enterprise Chronicle Glass.
The council said the move was about keeping Whanganui's reputation as a national centre for glass art, particularly following the closure of the Wanganui Glass School in 2015.
Two years later, Redding says the facility which functions as a facility for hot and kiln glass artists, UCOL design students and as a public gallery for exhibiting local and national work is thriving.
"We have plenty to celebrate as we turn 2," he says.
To enter the design competition, take your glass design drawing down to NZ Glassworks on Saturday, September 29. Category one will be chosen and made between 10am and 12pm and category two will be chosen and made between 1pm and 3pm. Entries can also be posted to 2 Rutland St, no later than Wednesday, September 26.
