Two pop-up Gallery spaces add style and cachet to downtown Tauranga.
The Goddards Centre Arcade runs between Grey Street and Devonport Road in the traditional strip-shopping centre of downtown Tauranga. It’s home to the Rialto Cinema and Collar and Thai, moochi is on one corner fronting Devonport Road and there is boutique-style retail fronting Grey Street. Inside has recently seen a longtime boutique relocate to Grey Street. Ironically this seems to have been the tipping point for the transformation of the Arcade with the appearance of two wonderful pop-up art galleries.
Macandmor is packed with guests for its “formal launch” – it’s been open for a while and tonight the walls are covered in original works by local artists while the floor is crammed with the artists, their friends and members of the wider Tauranga creative community and its supporters.
Next door to Macandmor is another pop-up gallery The Art Lounge. This is the reincarnation of the Taupo-based The Art Lounge gallery of Mira Corbova-Smith and her husband Brian M Smith. Mira is an abstract artist and Brian a photographer.
Mira’s journey both to personal freedom and New Zealand from Slovakia is told to me with intensity and expression. Her early determination to create and her fearless ambition to travel to England. Mira recounts her meeting and marriage to Brian and their participation in an English based art collective. Although based in Taupo since 2012 Mira had always wanted to live in Tauranga and has recently achieved that move here. And once here, the Taupo gallery is recreated as a pop-up in the Goddard’s Centre.
The current pop-up space is shared by Mira and Brian with Rosie Harper, an international award-winning artist. Rosie’s work is “the art of deco”. 
As well as displaying their art and photography art and photographic tutorials are offered.
Brian M Smith on 2nd July 2016 is offering a photography course for beginners. 10am-3pm $150. a place can be secured at www.theartloungenz.com
Although our voluntary effort, The Window Project, bringing art to the street did not succeed in bringing art to the empty shop windows of Devonport Road and downtown Tauranga we applaud both the artists and property owners who are responsible for the stylish and flavourful appearance of these two pop-up galleries.
Macandmor Art Space Facebook macandmor email: macandmor@gmail.com
The Art Lounge pop-up gallery will be in the Goddard’s Arcade until 14th July 2016. “The gallery (free entry) is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am to 4pm. Fine art and photography in various media by three Tauranga artists sharing a passion for creativity and colour. Original art, photography and fine art prints available for sale. A wonderful ART EXPERIENCE not to be missed”
The Art Lounge, New Zealand www.theartloungenz.com facebook miracorbovasmithart
theartloungnz@gmail.com Telephone: 0064 (0) 21 2025061
Rosie Harper The Art of Deco www.artbyrosie.com rosie@artbyrosie.com
Telephone 021 765 306
Rosemary Balu. Rosemary Balu is the founding and current 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.
