AFFORDABLE ARTS - Members Exhibition 
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38 Artists
102 Artsworks
Cash and Carry - Take home on purchase
Everything priced $400 or under
THE KUMEU ARTS AWARDS 2023

Each November Kumeu Arts hosts the Kumeu Art Awards. The event highlights our talented community of artists and recognises their achievements. It also links art with local businesses who kindly donate prizes. 
Entries are submitted online, then go through a selection process. Successful entries are judged and exhibited in both the Kumeu Arts main gallery and the Pod gallery.
Monetary prizes and vouchers up to the value of $1,300, are awarded at a prestigious awards night ceremony giving us the opportunity to bring the art community together and celebrate the winners. Representatives from the generous companies involved are invited to give out prizes at what is always a fun, joyful event.

​MORE INFO HERE
MY FAMILY & OTHER ARTISTS
Jago Neal
Both Galleries 
11 - 28 Oct 2023
Opening event: Saturday the 14th of October 2023. 3-5 pm
For this exhibition, Jago visited and photographed his subjects in their home, studio, or working spaces and created a series of large mixed-media drawings of them. He includes surrounding objects, images, tools, and details to add context and tell stories. "I try to capture the experience of the visit and reflect the personality of the artist. The photographic stage, and spending time with each of them has been an integral part of the process."
 
Jago has invited the artists featured to each exhibit their own artwork alongside his portraits. Including: 
Julie Moselen
Gavin Chai
Kathy Servian
Peter Purcell (RIP)
Ashlee Tawhiti
Christine Rose
Corry Louise
Jesse Smith
Derek March

The exhibition will include painting, sculpture, Raranga (flax weaving), costume design, ceramics, and music.

​Jago states “My intention is to use the ties I have formed within the local arts community to develop a body of work which highlights the bonds that exist between artists as well as the depth and breadth of personality and practice”.​

​www.jagoneal.com
​Joolz in the studio - Jago Neal
TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW 
A group exhibition curated by Philip Tse
Main Gallery
21st Sep -7th Oct 2023
​Opening event & Performance: Fri 22 Sep. 5-7 pm
Artists talk: Sat 30th Sep 2-3 pm

This is a show by a group of New Zealand artists from different cultural backgrounds. Through painting, photography, sculpture, installation, music and poetry, viewers can experience different approaches and techniques in contemporary art-making. The aim of this exhibition is to explore their inner thoughts, nurture dialogue between them, while leaving the viewer to imagine the narrative.

Artists:: Diane Scott, Haihui Wang, Jamie Chapman, Kim Meredith, Kingsley Melhuish, Lea-Anne Sheather, Li-yen Lin, Masano Kawana, Nim Flora Chan, Ong Onlie, Philip Tse, Qiuwang Wang, shannon Novak, Susan Louie, Wei Lun Ha.
Mauri 
Photographs and paintings
​Eve Tonkin, Lynn Houghton & Lola Houghton
​Pod Gallery
19th Sep -7th Oct 2023
Opening event: Friday 22 Sep. 5-7 pm

An exhibition of works by a local family of artists made in direct response to the mauri of the land, including traditional black and white photographs by Lynn and Lola Houghton and paintings by Eve Tonkin.
Lynn has been a photographer for over 50 years. His engagement with this topic began 22 years ago when he moved to Aotearoa from California and found a different landscape and life-energy to explore creatively. 
Eve’s current work began in 2020, in Covid lockdown. She returned in feeling and in memory to the places that she and her ancestors come from while she painted, working in a perceptive rather than conceptual space.’
Lola made the series to be shown while still at high school, at her local beaches of Piha and Te Henga. She was interested in the energy of these places that she loves as well as the beautiful shapes there. She incorporated objects that she found on the beaches into the final images in the darkroom as Rayographs.
INKED - Printmaking in the Pod
​Pod Gallery
A Kumeu Arts Member’s Exhibition
August 23 – Sep 16 2023
Opening event: Friday 25 Aug. 5-7 pm
Get Fired - Ceramics
​Main Gallery
A Kumeu Arts Member’s Exhibition
August 23 – Sep 16 2023
Opening event: Friday 25 Aug. 5-7 pm
MATARIKI
Members Exhibition 
Pod Gallery
June 27th – July 22nd 2023 
Opening event Friday 30th June 5-7pm
Collected Identity 
Portraits of the North West
Main Gallery
June 27th – July 22nd 2023 
Opening event Friday 30th June 5-7pm

This modern take on portraiture will bring together the work of six artists:
Natalie Gelder 
Mark Whippy 
Carly Jade Anderson  
Tanya Blong 
Tracey Roberts  
Abbie Cossey
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The exhibition will include painting, photography and ceramic representations of people reflecting our community and the distinct voice of our district.
Feminine Traditions – Modern World
Rebecca Hawthorn, Linley Wilkinson, Iulia Simtion
7th June – 24th June
Opening Event: Saturday 10th June 2pm – 4pm

An exhibition which explores with curiosity, modern day and personal ideas of femininity, through the practices of weaving, ceramics and painting.  
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"Throughout history women have gathered together, forming communities through the making of things with the intention of nurturing their families or enhancing their domestic environment.  Ideas and ideals of femininity have informed society through these traditions over thousands of years.    
The feminine and the domestic are intrinsically intertwined.  Women are often drawn to collect precious things, to decorate their homes beyond the practical, to express their desire for colour and embellishment through the objects in their environment, both functional and ornamental.  
To be feminine is to live whole heartedly, it celebrates people, family, and friends. Women have always given and gifted to those they love, often with items made by their own hands.  The feminine comforts through food, creativity and stories."  
Kumeu in Focus - Members Exhibition
Part of the Auckland Festival of Photography 
31 May 2023- 24 Jun 2023
Opening Night June 9th. 5-7

Kumeu in Focus aims to highlight our gifted photographic community while capturing a distinct local voice. The exhibition will feature a retrospective by the Kumeu Photography Group, celebrating their 10th year with a selection of their favourite images. A section of the show will be given to the festival theme inviting interpretations of Resistance [ātete]. While the ‘Open’ category will allow Kumeu Arts members the freedom to display photography of their choosing. 

​Download an entry from

​Image shown by Charlie Yang
Art On Record - Members Exhibition
May 8th-June 3rd 3023
Opening Night: Friday 12th May 6-8pm

Members were asked to create an artwork for a past, present or future band or musician - real or imagined. All artwork needed to be within the format and dimensions of an LP Album cover. 18 Members entered this fun, and diverse exhibition linking music and art. 

The Opening night will have DJ's, Blue Honey playing Live, visuals, nibbles and drinks. All welcome. 
MICHELLE REID
Remnants and Sanctuaries
2 - 27 May
Main Gallery
Opening night: Saturday 6th May. 3-5 pm.
​Artist Talk: Saturday 6th May 3:30pm

Michelle Reid’s painting practise works with an umbrella theory of Atmosphere Aesthetics and Emotional Spaces in a fictive post-human landscape.
In this exhibition she has visited local Kumeu growers to gather visual resources while questioning the weathering effects of the climate and the industrious nature of plants.
Through drawing, collage, and painting, she has been experimenting with figurative aspects, collage, and revisiting material choices, to find pathways with painting.
Reid is drawn to shaping layers of thin chromatic materials including watercolour, oil, and homemade rabbit skin glue on timber, canvas or paper.

@michellereid._studio​
VAL ENGER

 18 April - 6 May
Pod Gallery
Opening night: TBC

Val Enger resides and was born in West Auckland. She paints onto canvas or board in acrylic, pastels and watercolour. 
Val says “Lately I have been moving into Abstract paintings which are still inspired by the land around me. I am searching for a visual 'truth that finds its place between the observed and the deeply personal and transitory nature of the experience.
Painting is a process of application coupled with a reductive approach that, through editing, shifts the work into an autonomous space of individual expression." 
Val recently completed three years study at Browne School of Arts.
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www.facebook.com/engerart/
TIPUA SCULPTURE TOUR
Courtesy of Lakehouse Arts
April 4 – 29th 2023
Main Gallery 

This touring exhibition of contemporary and traditional Whakairo Sculptures was created by a collection of Auckland-based artists during the nationwide lockdown. We were the last stop for this tour, which came to us courtesy of Lake House Arts and funding from Auckland Council.
WORLD OF CULTURES
Art & Writing Competition
Pod Gallery
Exhibition Dates: March 14th – April 15th 
Opening event & Prize Giving: Friday 24th March. 5-7 pm

We asked artists to submit artworks which reflect the theme culture or cultural experiences. Images of these artworks were then displayed at Kumeu Library and visitors to the library were invited to respond to the artwork through writing. No information was provided about the artworks. People interpreted them based solely on the picture provided. It is worth noting that we did not receive a piece of writing for every artwork and one has been generated by AI (artificial intelligence) but not included in the competition. 
 
The original artworks are now displayed here alongside the accompanying writing. More details about the artist or picture are included in the exhibition. Also, work made by local tamariki reflecting their ideas on culture. 
 
Free Community Event & Prize Giving: Friday 24th March. 5-7pm
Join us to help us celebrate multiculturalism and race relations. Take part in a free demonstration with artist Monisha Gallage and try your hand at the traditional practice of Batik. We will also have food from around the world and prizes will also be awarded as follows: 
One winning artwork - Adult - Prize $100 cash 
One winning piece of writing – Adult - $100 Voucher 
One winning artwork – Child (14 yrs. or under) - Prize $50 cash 
One winning piece of writing – Child (14 yrs. or under) - $50 Voucher
​With Thanks to our sponsor....
METTE HAY
The Invisible Visible - You are Hear
14 March - 1 April
Main Gallery
Opening night: Friday 17th March. 5-8 pm.

The Invisible Visible – ‘You Are Hear’  ​is an experiential installation that encourages curiosity and kinship through visualising the unseen.

Soundscapes from Muriwai at moments in time and space are translated into crafted material forms revealing the invisible element of sound through the alchemy of water and light.
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An organic artwork of the voices of participants will  ‘grow’ throughout the exhibition.

All as a gentle nudge to the art of giving attention to wonder, beauty, joy, loss and kinship to this living Earth … now.
 
​https://www.mettehay.com
The Kumeu Arts Awards Winners 
Group Exhibition 
21 Feb - 11 March 2023
Both Galleries
Opening night: Friday 3rd March. 5-7 pm

This exhibition will feature the work of the prize winners from the Kumeu Arts Awards 2022:
Stephanie Nierstenhoefer
Stefanie Robinson
Riki Waugh
Davina Wang
Rachel Cullen
Victoria Johnston 
Kirsten Reid
Ronald Wang
OUR AOTEAROA 2023 -
​Member's exhibition
25 Jan- 18 Feb 2023
Across both Galleries
Exhibition Celebration night: Friday 10th February

44 Artists. 102 Artworks. Celebrating NZ in all its glory.
Including work by Members of Art Centre Helensville.