Young Artists Take the Floor at Geoff Wilson Gallery   15 Sep 2014

Media Release 15 September 2014

Young Artists Take the Floor at Geoff Wilson Gallery

WHANGAREI, September 11, 2014 – ‘Flux’: a state of continuous change. The latest exhibition at Geoff Wilson gallery at NorthTec, ‘FLUX – Ideas to Reality’, opens a professional exhibition space to NorthTec’s youngest art students. For these emerging artists, continuous change is a way of life as they transition from school to ‘the real world.’ Opening Thursday 18th September, ‘FLUX’ is what happens when high school students have the opportunity to translate their art dreams into reality, free from the restrictions of NCEA criteria.

Teenagers are often lumped together and talked about as if they are one entity. FLUX denies that stereotype, the diverse nature of the exhibition proving that young people fluently use a range of materials to express ideas that vary from consumerism and Maori identity to fantastical explorations of media. The uniting feature evident in this diversity is the high standard that these aspiring creative practitioners have set for themselves.

The group of twelve Year 13 students from around Whangarei are graduates of NorthTec’s inaugural Art Academy programme, an initiative which encourages artistically inclined high school students to pursue a career in the visual arts. This exhibition showcases the variety of ideas and media that the students have had the freedom to explore over the course of the year.

Whangarei Girls’ High School student Catherine Turner affirms that the programme has strengthened her confidence in her art practice: “Art Academy made me realise that what I like to do is actually considered art - I had never really thought of it that way before.” The Art Academy also doubles as a taster of what studying art at tertiary level is like. “Art Academy was a reality check,” admits Miranda Hallett-Pullen. “Studying art is hard, but rewarding, and my experience at NorthTec has helped me decide where I want to go in the future”.

NorthTec’s Art Academy programme welcomes a new generation into the art world, and the FLUX exhibition shows that change is inevitable, exciting and necessary to keep art interesting and relevant. It recognises the importance of encouraging young people’s voices and celebrating their creativity. For more information about how you can become involved in the Art Academy programme next year contact Lisa Clunie [email protected].

FLUX – Ideas to Reality runs 18th September – 2nd October at the Geoff Wilson Gallery

Open Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm

At NorthTec’s Whangarei campus, 51 Raumanga Valley Rd, Gate 3

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