WELLINGTON artist Anna Stichbury – who has her gallery in Island Bay - didn’t wait to be invited into Artbourne.
She believes in fostering creativity so much that when she heard Wellesley College – the school her brothers went to – was again staging Artbourne exhibition 2010 – fostering creativity, she invited herself.
Stichbury’s family assisted long-time art teacher Eve Owen’s dream of building a purpose-built art studio.
“She saw that as a fitting connection and we were delighted with the serendipity,” Wellesley College development manager Margie Beattie says.
Other New Zealand artists included in the exhibition include printmakers and brothers Michel and Sheyne Tuffery, Seatoun’s Tom Sladden and City Gallery co-curator and poet Greg O’Brien.
Card reproductions of work done by Owen’s top pupils will be for sale.
Owen has taught at the school for more than 25 years and totally believes in the importance of art. The art room at Wellesley is never closed. And she says the boys are much different from the girls in the approaches they take: the girls play it safe, whereas the boys tend to take risks, which sometimes work, and sometimes don’t.
“Their work here is really beautiful. It’s really free. It’s really different.”
Her experience of the importance of fostering creativity in boys has been evident in one of her pupils’ work. He’s autistic, but since going into the art room he’s blossomed and has started producing “beautiful drawings”.
“He loves the art room a lot. The beauty is the affirmation he gets from the other boys. The boys are really kind to him and that makes him stand taller and be proud of it. There are lots of guys that stand taller because they spend lots of time in the art room.”
Artbourne exhibition 2010 – fostering creativity, Wellesley College, Days Bay, October 29-31.