When Palmerston North CEO Heather Shotter mentions $9.5million the amount directed towards that town’s public art you could hear a pin drop in the Basestation. That’s until we members of the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty creative community start our soft almost sad laugh.

Palmerston North has never been high on my list of creative or aspirational priorities – it may well be that has been a mistake.  It’s a rural and University town, known for its wide streets and advanced equestrian training.   Now it seems it may be one of the North Island’s cultural connections. Earlier this year the town won an award: the Creative New Zealand Excellence Award for its public arts programme “Framing the Big Picture”.

 

 

                                                              

   

 

 

 

 

Phil Green hits it on the head with his post-talk question to Shotter: inclusiveness?   This town and its creative projects are so successful because there is an atmosphere of inclusivity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, of course, as one who keeps banging on about our region emulating those who worked so hard to get the Tauranga Art Gallery to reality, I ask how important the Palmerston North Public Sculpture Trust has been to the creation of the portfolio of public art – vital.  The Trust’s website is wonderful: a virtual tour of the public art acquired through the co-operation of Council and Community.    http://www.publicsculpture.org.nz/

But reduced to a walnut: the long-laughed at “Palmy” has a cultural palette and spectrum of creative venues and activities you’d find hard to believe and it’s beautifully promoted – which you would expect from someone with Shotter’s previous work experience.     https://www.manawatunz.co.nz/visit/see-and-do/arts-culture

I believe we’ve reached a tipping point here in acknowledging the economic and social-community benefits of art and creativity in and around Tauranga and the Western Bay.   We’re progressing along the pathway.

Being a semantic snob  I prefer “The Jam Factory” to “The Stomach” but in both cases they’re accessible performance spaces.  http://www.creativesounds.org.nz/

We have the wonderful collection of buildings at the Historic Village creatively repurposed. A former Palmerston North Council building is now a multi-faceted creative space  https://www.communityarts.org.nz/

No it’s not without criticism.  Google brings up articles on community opposition to the temporary closure and planned refurbishment of their art gallery.  It’s a total laugh out loud: they’re not complaining about having an art gallery, they’re not complaining about having a museum – they’re complaining because the gallery is going to be closed for an extended period of time.  There’s  muttering from those organising  the upcoming  Palmy Fringe Festival and I find occasional articles about “rates” and “costs” and acerbic facebook comments.   But all in all – from what I’ve seen  Palmerston North’s partnerships have achieved  “excellent” results.  Who would have thought I’d be thinking about a holiday in Palmerston North.

Heather Shotter:  was a Creative Bay of Plenty Presentation held at the Basestation, a Tauranga Co-Working Space 148 Durham Street, Tauranga 3110

Rosemary Balu. Rosemary Balu is the founding and current Managing Editor of ARTbop. Rosemary has arts and law degrees from the University of Auckland. She has been a working lawyer and has participated in a wide variety of community activities where information gathering, submission writing, community advocacy and education have been involved. Interested in all forms of the arts since childhood Rosemary is focused on further developing and expanding multi-media ARTbop as the magazine for all the creative arts in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

 

ARTbop promotes

(or we think you should check this out!)

MAORI LANGUAGE FOR BEGINNERS
Qualification: New Zealand Certificate in Te Reo (Reo Rua) Level 1 & Level 2
If you want to learn basic Māori language this is the perfect place to start. Whether you want to use te reo Māori at home with the kids or in the workplace, this interactive programme will have you speaking with confidence in no time.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT AND LEARN TO LOVE AND USE TE REO MAORI EVERY DAY!
WHO: 25 + PEOPLE
WHEN: 2019 (DAY TO BE SET)
WHERE: WHAKAMARAMA SCHOOL
TIME: 6:00 – 9:00 PM

YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:
 pronunciation
 tikanga
 introductions
 basic vocabulary
 basic sentence structures

YOU’LL KNOW HOW TO:
 correctly pronounce Māori words, names and place names
 use basic greetings and introduce yourself
 understand and follow tikanga (protocols)
 perform some waiata
 use Māori words with confidence
 Understand basic sentence structures
LETS’S GET STARTED

ATTEND THE NEXT MEETING WITH NOKI MARTIN
When: Tuesday 25th September
Where: Room 1, Whakamarama School
Time: 6:00 pm
SPREAD THE WORD
25 + people = 1 class
50+ people = 2 classes
INTERESTED IN LEVEL 4?
Also possible with 25 + people

 

THE AFFORDABLE ART & ARTISAN FAIR AT THE BLACK SHEEP WHAKAMARAMA ON THE  LAST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH (AND DECEMBER 16TH)

The next Affordable Art & Artisan Fair will be on the last Sunday of September – September 30th.   The Fairs are held within the Black Sheep Cafe & Restaurant complex on the last Sunday of every month 11am to 3pm.  There is heaps of parking, clean toilets and wonderful food and coffee.  There’s live music. There’s an event prize you can win.   If you would like to join us as an exhibitor/retailer of your original creativity or artisan products you can contact us at aaafair17@gmail.com1!

We are sign posted along SH2 with signage to the turnoff of SH2 and Plummer’s Point Road.  You won’t be able to miss us!  Here’s  just a taste of what you’ll find. We’re indoors over winter months and outside in the Summer!

 

 

alchemy

SPOKEN WORD POETRY

Join us every second Thursday of the month,

6.00pm to 8.30pm

Read your own poems or poems by your favourite poet.   Enjoy the power of the spoken word!

Phone:   07 571 8722   021 145 5810

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           ARTbop

                the Bay of Plenty’s creative arts magazine!

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