Art Gallery Asks People To Help Bring More Art Into Chch

MEDIA RELEASE Date: Wednesday 20 March 2013

Art Gallery Asks People To Help Bring More Art Into Christchurch
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu will tomorrow launch a fundraising campaign to bring more art into the city by boosting its Outer Spaces programme.

The Gallery aims to raise $25,000 or more though the new national arts crowd funding website – www.boosted.org.nz – launched tomorrow. The funding website provides an exciting way for New Zealanders to engage with the arts, and the Gallery’s Outer Spaces project is one of only two Christchurch projects to be listed for its official launch. The second project is the Christchurch Arts Festival 2013.

Gallery director Jenny Harper is pleased to be part of this opportunity for supporters of art to help fill more transitional spaces in Christchurch’s Central City with art.

“The last two years have been challenging for the Gallery, particularly the need to find innovative ways to operate without a physical building. Through our Outer Spaces projects we have put art on billboards, walls, cleared sites, even the windows of an abandoned house. You could say we are closed, but open.

“We are preparing for our 10th birthday celebrations in May. Even though we can’t invite people into our building for a party, we can still bring art to the city. The money raised through Boosted will be used to ensure more works of art are made available – because we firmly believe that good art really matters.”.

People will have until 30 April 2013 to donate to the Gallery’s Boosted campaign, with members of the public able to donate any amount from $5 and up.

The Gallery’s 10th birthday programme is called Populate! and is an extension of Outer Spaces. Populate! will be a new wave of city art, bringing faces and figures – as well as bursts of humour and strangeness – to the depopulated central city.

“We are developing an exciting programme around our birthday to keep locals engaged with art and will keep the community updated with our plans.” Ms Harper says.

The Outer Spaces programme has also involved the Gallery using different exhibition spaces. It has been exhibiting at 212 Madras Street (above NG and The National) since February 2012, and a second, new space, opens at 209 Tuam Street (above C1 Espresso) on 21 March. It is also hoped that the Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) may become available.
Opening tomorrow (Thursday 21 March 2013) as well are two new Outer Spaces exhibitions, both running until 24 April. Reuben Paterson: Te Pūtahitanga ō rehua will run at 212 Madras Street and Seung Yul Oh: Huggong, will be at 209 Tuam Street.

• To donate to the Gallery’s Boosted project visit www.boosted.org.nz

• For more information about the Gallery and its Outer Spaces programme visit www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz .

-ENDS-

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