Marsden School’s Artist in Residence Programme

21 June 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Ultimate Creative Masterclass

Marsden School’s Artist in Residence Programme

Bridget Reweti - Tipu Exhibition

Mix professional creative artist with impressionable students eager to learn and the results can be quite transformative – the ultimate outcome of the Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Artist in Residence programme. Marsden School established the Artist in Residence Programme in 1999 and continues each year to build a legacy of strong associations with professional practicing artists and designers.

This year’s Marsden Artist in Residence is renowned photographer Bridget Reweti. Reweti is holding her Exhibition ‘Tipu’ 23-30 June in the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Customhouse Quay in Wellington. Her work explores landscape perspective and contemporary indigenous realities and are a culmination of Bridget’s time as Artist in Residence at Marsden School.

Bridget is an artist from Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi in Tauranga Moana, Aotearoa. Bridget is part of Mata Aho Collective, a collaboration between four Māori women artists who produce large-scale textile works, commenting on the complexity of Māori lives. She is also an active member of Kava Club, a Wellington based collective of Māori and Pacific artists, performers, activists and supporters. Kava Club produce thematic public events that disrupt formulaic modes of representation of minorities.

Currently living in Wellington, Bridget holds a Masters in Māori Visual Arts from Toioho ki Āpiti, Massey University and a PgDip in Museum and Heritage Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. Bridget has held numerous residencies both nationally and internationally and her work is held in both private and public collections.

During her time at Marsden Bridget worked with art students employing analogue photography such as cyanotype, camera obscura, and photograms as a way to explore the nature of light in plants endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. "As many of the native plants have various uses for Māori both historically and currently, it is great for students to learn about these and also recognise how common they are in Wellington", said Reweti.

“Students at all year levels have enjoyed working with Bridget during her tenure and the process and experience has been very rewarding for all involved. For some students it can transform the simple understanding of making images express ideas, for others it might change their view of themselves in the world – tackling creative issues and expressing them through visual mediums”, said Marsden Head of Visual Design Kaz Bartsch. Students’ work will be on show at the residency Exhibition 23-30 June, NZ Portrait Gallery.

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School has been providing quality independent education for 140 years. Today it has two campuses. The Marsden School Karori campus provides education for girls from Years 1 – 13 and has a co-ed Preschool. Marsden School’s purpose is to lay the foundation for lives of meaning, accomplishment and genuine happiness. marsden.school.nz

END

BACKGROUND

The Ultimate Creative Masterclass

Marsden School’s Artist in Residence Programme

Mix professional creative artist with impressionable students eager to learn and the results can be quite transformative – the ultimate outcome of the Samuel Marsden Artist in Residence programme.

For some students it can transform the simple understanding of making images express ideas, for others it might change their view of themselves in the world – tackling creative issues and expressing them through visual mediums.

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School established the Artist in Residence Programme in 1999 and continues each year to build a legacy of strong associations with professional practicing artists and designers.

The purpose of the residency is to allow Visual Art students within the Department of Art and Design and students in the wider school (Preschool – Year 13) the opportunity of working alongside practicing artists and sharing in their art making practice for a period of time.

The Artist in Residence programme at Marsden is carefully tailored to extend and challenge student understanding of the creative fine art processes – through workshops, lectures, one-on-one tutorials and university style critique sessions, the artist is on hand to guide and mentor.

A professional practicing artist – painter, photographer, designer, sculptor, print maker –spends the equivalent of 5 weeks mentoring and instructing students from across the school (Preschool, Primary, Secondary), in a wide range of themes. The school offers for the duration of the residency, a modest stipend, a studio workspace and contact with both junior and senior students through formal master-class sessions and critiques. Each year the residency concludes with an exhibition of a body of work by the artist hosted by the school in a city gallery space.

A prestigious list of artists is testimony to the standing of the Artist in Residence programme. Candidates from a range of artistic disciplines have engaged with the visual art students at Marsden, bringing to the learning environment a continually changing view of ‘what is Art’ and the methods and processes by which it is created.

The School’s art collection, thanks to the Marsden Parents’ Association, enjoys a sample of many of the resident artists‘ works for the girls’ ongoing enjoyment and learning reference in school.

Through programmes such as the Samuel Marsden Artist in Residence and other creative initiatives in the school, Marsden seeks to inspire young learners to aspire to be creative thinkers who can think outside the norm, visualize new solutions, and make a difference in the world of tomorrow.

END

© Scoop Media