Community
Fostering local talent, street art walks, tattoo artist exhibitions and graffiti art in alleyways.
Ideas for Invercargill’s proposed Art Centre in the inner-city are flooding in as people fill out the suggestion cards which have been distributed around businesses, cafes and public places in the city.
Art Centre Project Invercargill team leader Janette Malcom said the working group helping collate the feedback was impressed with the ideas and excitement around the project to date.
Art Centre Project Invercargill assistant Ramari Paul drops off some ‘Art in the Heart’ postcards at Zookeepers in Invercargill.
“The suggestion postcards are all around the city so if you see one please fill it out with what you’d like a new inner-city art centre to include.”
The Art Centre Project Invercargill working group has been formed to consult with Invercargill residents and the wider arts sector to help develop a strategic plan for the proposed art centre.
Malcolm said the preferred location was Esk St West, incorporating a reimagined Wachner Place and they wanted as many ideas as possible about the look, feel and what people wanted to see and do in the art centre.
“We want to be as wide open as possible to what you might do and see there.”
The Arts Centre Project wanted to open up people’s minds to possibilities around the likes of sculpture, film, digital, performance, design, learning and live entertainment in addition to traditional art, she said.
“An old-fashioned view of a gallery is a more static place that hung pictures and the odd piece of sculpture. The time has come for something far more modern, innovative and interactive.”
The ‘Art in the Heart’ postcards have been launched as the first step in the community consultation process to help get feedback from the community and spread the word about the project, Malcolm said.
The objectives stem from actions proposed in the Southland Regional Development Strategy Action Plan released on November 30 around creating a social and artistic anchor point in the inner-city for everyone.
The Action Plan also called for improved capability in the arts and cultural sector, a dedicated home for Invercargill art collections and the creation of an enduring attraction for residents and visitors.
“We’re planning to consult the public and the arts sectors in the new year when we will get into the work of getting their feedback and holding workshops,” Malcolm said.