SLOW ART DAY
Good art is good for you, and that’s why we’re prescribing you a day dedicated to browsing, looking and listening. Slow Art Day returns with a slow-paced but jam-packed programme of artist talks and beautiful exhibitions all over town.
The international event Slow Art Day was created to encourage us all to look at art for a little longer, in the hope that we not only see more, but also get to know the works in greater detail. At the same time, slowing down, and being present, is one of those things that are somehow so hard to do in our busy lives, and yet, so important for our wellbeing.
So, amidst the excitement and whirlwind that is the Arts Festival, we invite you to take things slowly on our second Saturday. We have prepared a few events to guide you through the day, but really: take your time, explore at your own pace and enjoy the rich arts scene of Whakatū.
Slow Art events – all free to attend:
- Refinery ArtSpace | Coffee & Crochet with Heidi Lucas | 10am – 11.30am
- Lee Woodman Studio | Dream Cloud Workshop | make your own cloud badge with Lydia Hannah Thomas | 10.30am – 12pm
- Upper Trafalgar St | Life Drawing with Jeanie Robertson | 12-2pm
- Cultural Conversations | Make Art Not War – add your paper crane to the growing exhibition | 10am – 2pm
- Suter Art Gallery | How to Look at Art – Curator Talk | 12.30pm
- Quiet Dog Gallery | Exhibition by Lisa Chandler + Artist Talk 2pm
- Craig Potton Gallery | Curator Talks 11am + 1pm
- Refinery ArtSpace | By Whakatū Residency Sharing | 2pm
Exhibitions and participating galleries:
- Atelier Studio|Gallery: Manu Tutetue | Charles + Janine Williams
- Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū: Hineukurangi + Stop Making Sense
- Cultural Conversations: Make Art Not War | Rana Hamida
- Refinery ArtSpace: Waka of Dreams: Punanga Pohewa | Lissy + Rudi Robinson-Cole with Hollie Tawhiao
- Lee Woodman Studio: Myths & Legends | Sam Duckor-Jones
- Quiet Dog Gallery: Artist Gone Wild | Lisa Chandler
- Little Beehive | Senior Art Students from Nayland College
- Protean Art | Ceramics by Elena Renker
- Viewfinder Window : Steven Junil Park & John Harris, Under one sun, under one moon, 2024
- Project 100: Alyx Duncan & Michelle Powells, The Sea Inside Her
- around town: Whispers in the Streets
Please check back here, sign up to our newsletter (see link at the bottom of our web pages) or follow along on our social media!
COFFEE & CROCHET 10-11.30am
Join Heidi Lucas at the Refinery ArtSpace for a slow-paced morning of making with coffee, croissants and crochet – learn some basic stitches, bring your own project to continue working on, and make something to add to the Sensory Wall at Waka of Dreams: Punenga Pohewa by Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole.
DREAM CLOUD WORKSHOP
You may have seen a few festival team members with their Dream Clouds pinned to their jackets already – here’s your chance to make your very own!
Join chief dreamer Lydia Hannah Thomas aka Bloom for a cloud making workshop at Lee Woodman’s studio, 10.30am – 12pm. Dreamy tunes included!
MAKE ART NOT WAR | PAPER CRANES
It’s the final day for Rana Hamida‘s Make Art Not War here in Whakatū – join us at Cultural Conversation, learn how to fold a paper crane and add yours to the growing installation.
All cranes will join the previously made ones and continue to travel across the motu with a message for peace and connection.
LIFE DRAWING EN PLAIN AIR
Ever wanted to try out life drawing? Here’s your chance to give it a go! Join Jeanie Robertson from Life Drawing Nelson for a fun sketch session en plain air – 12-2pm on Upper Trafalgar Street, in front of the museum. Models provided!
HOW TO LOOK AT ART | 12.30pm
Join curator Dr Kyla Mackenzie for an exploration of artworks central to their current exhibition, Stop Making Sense: Surrealist Legacies.
Image credit: Julian Hooper, Lovesick, 2019. Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2019
ARTIST GOES WILD | LISA CHANDLER
Exhibition by Lisa Chandler
26 October – 23 November
Quiet Dog Gallery, 33 Wakatu Lane
New Zealand artist Lisa Chandler’s latest series Artist Goes Wild is a direct response to her desire to do something positive to help support our planet. Chandler made the conscious decision to create artworks that are a celebration of nature and that highlight the critical importance of greener and wilder spaces, especially in urban areas. The work explores the tenacity of nature growing in concrete jungles: the cooling effect of shade from trees; nature in small spaces and the beauty of decay.
The exhibition is also a fundraiser for the national Trees That Count programme. 5% of every artwork sold will be donated to Chandler’s Artist Goes Wild tree registry which will support tree planting projects in her home region of Tasman. Alongside raising money for local tree planting projects, Chandler’s aim for this exhibition is to encourage visitors to include more ‘green’ in their own urban spaces, she says “that even a small action can offer us a sense of hope in these troubling times”.
SLOW ART DAY | ARTIST TALK | Sat 2 Nov | 2pm
GALLERY ARTISTS | IMPULSES
For 2024 Slow Art Day, the gallery will be open 10am – 2pm with gallery founder/director and award-winning photographer Craig Potton speaking about the gallery’s represented artists work as it relates to the structure of figurative and abstract impulses in their art.
SLOW ART DAY | CURATOR TALKS with CRAIG POTTON | Sat 2 Nov | 11am + 1 pm
PARTICIPATING GALLERIES
Sat 2 Nov | 10am – 4pm
FREE
All Ages