Kaipatiki Public Arts Trust – who we are, what we’re about.
Kaipatiki Public Arts Trust (KPAT) is a charitable trust established in 2013 with the assistance of the Kaipatiki Local Board to develop public art projects in the Kaipatiki area that are of enduring quality, are accessible to the public and stimulate public interest. We collaborate with Auckland Council on projects in the public arena as well as developing some autonomous projects.
The inner Waitemata Harbour suburbs of Beach Haven, Birkenhead, Chatswood, Birkdale, Northcote, Glenfield, Hillcrest and Marlborough make up the Kaipātiki area. It is bounded by the Northern Motorway to the east.
Art in public places – Why?
Art galleries are great to visit. But you have to do just that – ‘visit’, including travelling through Auckland’s traffic, finding and paying for parking, walking through ‘the weather’ and so on.
Public art takes it ‘to the people’. To stimulate, excite, enthuse, provoke everyone, every time they pass it. It can be an impressive scale sculpture, a painterly mural, an interesting signpost , a cool new app. for your phone, a film show in a shopping mall. Whatever, the essence is to get it ‘out there’.
In the words of the Auckland Public Arts Policy, art that ‘connects with people, reflects and celebrates our unique identity and generates a sense of pride and belonging’
There is already some great public art around Auckland.
For instance “Rocks” by Greer Twiss at the corner of Symonds St and K. Rd. And have you seen children playing under “Wind Tree” by Michio Ihara down at the Viaduct? The environment of Newmarket is considerably enhanced by works of Terry Stringer and Reuben Patterson. And so it goes on…. but not in Kaipatiki. Our area is sadly lacking in public art. KPAT wants to change this to enhance the liveliness and cultural richness of our part of town.
We hope you will take an interest in, and support our work.
Management Team:
Helen Schamroth (Chair, Trustee)
Helen Schamroth ONZM is a mixed media artist, writer, arts consultant and arts advocate. Her background includes serving on the Arts Board of Creative New Zealand for two terms, curating NZ Sculpture Onshore twice and HeadHandsHeart for the Christchurch Arts Festival. She wrote the award-winning 100 New Zealand Craft Artists.
Campbell Hegan (Trustee)
After an early career in theatre and television, Campbell Hegan became a full-time ceramic artist in 1972. He has written extensively on the arts for press and television. For a decade he was Director of the Sturt Centre for Australian Craft and Design in NSW. He maintains his arts practice and is a consultant curator and teacher in the applied arts.
Gillian Taylor (Trustee)
Gillian has a strong interest in the arts and creativity. She works as a business strategist and facilitator; in particular, supporting the co-creation of collaborative business relationships such as partnerships and alliances.
Ann McGlashan
Ann is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland. She currently lectures in Design and Technology. Her qualifications include a Masters in Art and Design. Her community involvement roles include being a foundation member of the Beach Haven place-making group and a term as chairperson of the HavenArt Group.
Jane Legget
Jane Legget is a museum and heritage professional who believes that the arts and heritage are powerful for telling the stories of people and places and contribute to a strong sense of place and community identity. Public art builds local pride and community connection. Jane has worked in and around museums and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK and loves Kaipatiki.
Our sponsors:
We would like to acknowledge our many sponsors, in particular Auckland City Council and Kaipatiki Local Board, and we greatly appreciate their ongoing support.
