Wairau Māori Art Gallery, New Zealand’s first dedicated gallery to Māori Art, has kicked off a series of interactive workshops with renowned artist Wayne Youle to inspire the next generation of artists.
A small group of Dreamers had the unique opportunity to participate and rub shoulders with Wayne who describes himself as Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaeke and Ngāti Pākehā descent and has an international profile as a contemporary Māori artist.
The workshop opportunity arose from I Have a Dream’s valuable community connection with Geva Downey, the Wairau Maori gallery educator, based at the Hundertwasser Art Centre.
IHAD’s relationship with the Hundertwasser Art Centre began in 2022 and has allowed many of our dreamers to experience what this space has to offer the community and visitors here. Of the 8 dreamers in the group, some were re-visiting the space and others experiencing it for the first time.
Our workshop was held inside the gallery itself which provided dim lighting and a calm atmosphere. Wayne took us through a thought-provoking process of colour, self-reflection and personal appreciation of art to create a series of badges dreamers could take home. Each part of the process personalised each badge the dreamer created.
Wayne and Geva facilitated an inclusive and comfortable space to be creative and share. Dreamers felt at ease and used their time there to its fullest and came away with a broader understanding of art and its creative process. The opportunity strengthened the group’s whanaungatanga within their local community. It reinforced I Have a Dream’s values of ako, tumanako and rangatira, making it a valuable and heartening time for all involved.
Wayne Youle’s workshop with Dreamers was covered by the Northern Advocate.
Wayne has produced a wide body of contemporary work incorporating sculpture, painting, print and design since graduating from the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design in 1999.
He has been an artist in residence for at least three venues, including in Sydney, and exhibited all over New Zealand plus in overseas hot spots like Berlin.
Wairau Māori Art Gallery, which is nestled inside Whangārei’s Hundertwasser Art Centre, wants to eventually hold workshops for all schools interested.
Engagement with artistic and creative activities is well known to have a myriad of positive wellbeing benefits for young people, including:
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