ArtBeat team members Rebecca Dowman-Ngāpō, Hira Anderson-Mita, and Vanessa Drinkwater.
The call has gone out for artists and musicians with a connection to Ōtorohanga to support the ArtBeat event in late November.
The collaboration between the ArtBeat team, Ōtorohanga Museum and Ōtorohanga Creative Conduit will run on November 23 and 24.
Lead organiser Rebecca Dowman-Ngāpō says the sky’s the limit when it comes to the range of arts to be featured.
As well as musicians and dancers and poets, the event aims to encourage painters, sculptures, weavers, carvers, quilters and more to participate.
“We’ve really just got to put the word out and see who responds.”
The two-day festival is a revival of the ArtBeat event created in 2020-21 which was championed by the late Māori broadcaster Derek Kōtuku Totorewa Wooster, of Ōtorohanga.
“Before passing away in 2022, Derek really showed us what was possible by organising the first ArtBeat. Then plans were interrupted by Covid and other setbacks, but now we feel the time is right to proceed,” Ngāpō said.
“I am going to approach schools in the district about staging dance and musical performances. They will also be offered space to set up stalls to sell baking to raise funds.”
The public would participate in group artworks. One would involve painting tiles to create a collaborative mural and another pages for a “zine” (home made magazine) titled, “What Makes Your Heart Sing”.
Each person would be encouraged to create a page to be bound into a booklet.”
“The plan is to set up mini exhibitions from local schools and artists in participating shop windows as well, then create a link to encourage people to come to the museum and have a look around.
“ArtBeat is about the creative heartbeat of our community.
“Above all, ArtBeat will celebrate our district’s creatives; those who often work isolated in their studios at home. Here’s an opportunity for them to come out and show the community what they do behind closed doors and what they have to offer.”
