Latest news with #CentralStoriesMuseumandArtGallery
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Student art front and centre
The artwork of Dunstan High School students on display at Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery in celebration of Youth Week. PHOTO: ELLA JENKINS Alexandra Library and Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery hosted an exhibitions of Dunstan High School students' artwork in celebration of Youth Week. Puna Rangitahi Alexandra & Districts Youth Trust youth worker Courtney La'ulu said the idea to hold an art exhibition during youth week came from wanting to something different this year. A passion for the creative community and a desire to foster collaboration within the community gave her the idea to reach out to the Alexandra Library, Central Stories and Dunstan High School to highlight the talents of youth in Central Otago. Art from different year groups were on display at both Central Stories and the Library. A variety of artworks in different styles were provided by the Dunstan High School art department. Self-portraits, lino prints, cubism and architectural paintings were on display at Central Stories. Two sets of lockers were also on display, painted in a protest art style. "It was awesome just like being able to give the youth a space to be able to show off some of the talents for starters that we've got in our area and to be able to have them feel like they've got that place of belonging in our community as well." Ms La'ulu said the exhibition had been a huge success and she would not be surprised if the event was carried in the years to come. "We might look at getting more schools involved or doing something different, it could be a large mural or something like that," she said. Celebrating the community together for Youth Week in a creative space was something she was passionate about continuing, Ms La'ulu said.
Otago Daily Times
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Celebration of pastellists hosted at Central Stories
Australian master pastellist Tricia Taylor says there is a fantastic standard of work displayed at Central Stories this month. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Pastel art is thriving in New Zealand, says a master pastellist. Tricia Taylor was in Alexandra recently to attend the Pastel Artists of New Zealand convention. She judged entries in the Pastel Artists of New Zealand National Exhibition which is now on display at Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibit is a celebration of pastel art from across the country, showcasing works by both established and emerging artists. Ms Taylor said the standard of work in the exhibition was fantastic. "[There was] a variety of subject matter from portrait to landscapes, flowers and abstracts showed a range of genre that gave the exhibition a lot of interest." One painting that was also a varnished work on canvas also showed the diversity of the medium, she said. The society had different levels of membership from Masters, Distinguished artists and Artist members along with general membership, so there was artwork from each level ranging from professional artists to hobby artists. "The exhibition is well worth the look to see such a quality exhibition of pastels all in one gallery." New Zealand has had a thriving Pastel Society for more than 18 years and membership was growing, she said. Advances in the paper and pastel quality and availability was increasing all the time as pastels continued to grow in popularity. Ms Taylor said she had visited Central Otago many times. "Of course, autumn is spectacular and my favourite for painting. "I have brought artists to the area for painting holidays painting en plein air (outdoors)." She said the autumn colours and mountain ranges were always a highlight. "It is a very special and unique part of the world. "I have travelled extensively and there is nothing quite like it. "The friendliness of the people just adds that special touch to any holiday here." Ms Taylor started working in pastels in 1996 and became a Master Pastellist with the Australian Pastel Society in 2011. The exhibition runs at Central Stories until May 4.
Otago Daily Times
24-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Designer pods house fashion collection
A massive, high-tech "Lego set", inspired by the Maniototo landscape, has been created by a Dunedin company to display some of the country's top fashion. While most of the high-end outfits in Naseby farmer Eden Hore's collection of New Zealand fashion on show are in Dunedin, some are on display in Central Otago, encased in custom engineered "pods", designed by Dunedin company ZoomTech. Design engineer Richard Cathro said work on the pods began about five years ago, following discussions with Eden Hore collection steering group member and fashion historian Dr Jane Malthus, who already had a concept design for the cases. "I was a little intrigued about it," he said. Mr Cathro knew of the collection and had visited "the Eden Hore menagerie of things" and its caretaker while staying in the Maniototo as a child. "I could imagine at that time I was very reluctant to be dragged around looking at dresses," he said. Mr Hore amassed the largest collection of haute couture 1970s and '80s fashion in New Zealand — more than 270 gowns, primarily by the country's leading designers. The outfits were housed in a former tractor shed on his property until his death in 1997 and this month, a two year exhibit displaying collection highlights opened at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. However, some items are also on display in ZoomTech's pods at small exhibitions at Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery in Alexandra and at Lohi in Ranfurly. Exhibiting the delicate clothes outside of museum conditions presented a challenge — "the only way you can put some of these clothes on display is in some means of that people can't touch them," Mr Cathro said. The solution was the airtight pods, made of about 300 pieces of wood, plexiglass and aluminium — "a massive Lego set to build" — with a computer-controlled air circulation system to prevent dust settling on the clothes. The pods' colours were inspired by the Maniototo landscape and fashion photographer Derek Henderson's images of the collection modelled in the Central Otago high country. Six pods had been constructed, though not all were in use, and ZoomTech had received huge input from the collection steering group. "The challenges to make this are beyond trying to write them down," Mr Cathro said. For example, the pod's plexiglass had to be bent, but "we couldn't find anyone to bend the plexiglass so we built a machine to do it." Since they went on display, Mr Cathro had fielded inquiries about the pods from Te Papa and had five women looking to display their wedding dresses in them. "We do a lot of work for overseas that no-one gets to see in New Zealand. So in lots of ways, this was a project that I could do that we could show off some of our work."
Otago Daily Times
22-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Innovation needed to fashion pods
A massive, high-tech "Lego set", inspired by the Maniototo landscape, has been created by a Dunedin company to display some of the country's top fashion. While most of the high-end outfits in Naseby farmer Eden Hore's collection of New Zealand fashion on show are in Dunedin, some are on display in Central Otago, encased in custom engineered "pods", designed by Dunedin company ZoomTech. Design engineer Richard Cathro said work on the pods began about five years ago, following discussions with Eden Hore collection steering group member and fashion historian Dr Jane Malthus, who already had a concept design for the cases. "I was a little intrigued about it," he said. Mr Cathro knew of the collection and had visited "the Eden Hore menagerie of things" and its caretaker while staying in the Maniototo as a child. "I could imagine at that time I was very reluctant to be dragged around looking at dresses," he said. Mr Hore amassed the largest collection of haute couture 1970s and '80s fashion in New Zealand — more than 270 gowns, primarily by the country's leading designers. The outfits were housed in a former tractor shed on his property until his death in 1997 and earlier this month a two-year exhibit displaying collection highlights opened at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. However, some items are also on display in ZoomTech's pods at small exhibitions at Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery in Alexandra and at Lohi in Ranfurly. Exhibiting the delicate clothes outside of museum conditions presented a challenge — "the only way you can put some of these clothes on display is in some ... [way] that people can't touch them", Mr Cathro said. The solution was the airtight pods, made of about 300 pieces of wood, plexiglass and aluminium — "a massive Lego set to build" — with a computer-controlled air circulation system to prevent dust settling on the clothes. The pods' colours were inspired by the Maniototo landscape and fashion photographer Derek Henderson's images of the collection modelled in the Central Otago high country. Six pods had been constructed, though not all were in use, and ZoomTech had received huge input from the collection steering group. "The challenges to make this are beyond trying to write them down," Mr Cathro said. For example, the pod's plexiglass had to be bent, but "we couldn't find anyone to bend the plexiglass so we built a machine to do it". Since they went on display, Mr Cathro had fielded inquiries about the pods from Te Papa and women looking to display their wedding dresses in them. "We do a lot of work for overseas that no-one gets to see in New Zealand ... this was a project that I could do that we could show off some of our work."
