To receive our email newsletter send a message to: art@oto-rotary.org and put "Arts Centre Newsletter please" in the Subject Line.
This is the Home Page of the
Otorohanga Arts Centre Charitable Trust
We are archiving HOME MOVIES.
We want your home movies taken in and around the
Otorohanga District to be preserved for all time.
Films will be digitised and the originals returned to the owners.
Electronic copies will be available.
Contact Barry Marx tel: 021 626 090.
So far we have films dating from 1935 -
The Arts Centre aims to have our first historic movie
and photographic exhibition during February 2008.
THE ARTS CENTRE OFFICIAL OPENING :
7:30 pm Friday 27th April 2007
This event marked the launch of a two week Art Festival which
included the showing of 100 selected entries in the 2007 International
High Student Art Contest, together with an exhibition of 300 works
by established New Zealand artists, potters and glass workers.
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Otorohanga Mayor Dale Williams declares the Arts Centre Officially Open.
Master of Ceremony, Rotary Art Committee Chairman, Peter Signal is at the podium.
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Student Art Contest Curator Barry Marx with Art Exhibition Curator Janice Marx;
Rotary Club of Otorohanga President David Becker; District Governor D9930 2006/2007 Ron Finn,
and Assistant Governor/Art Committee Chairman Peter Signal following
the surprise investiture of Barry as a Rotary "Paul Harris Fellow".
The Arts Centre is alive..
An Arts Centre for Otorohanga.
Our building has moved on to the new site.
At 12:30pm Thursday 25th January 2007 the Arts Centre building passed across Hinewai Street to the new location at #76.
A series of hydraulic jacks have been placed around the building.
21 Jan. 2007 - The building is ready to be lifted.
3pm Tuesday 23rd January 2007
5.30pm Tuesday 23rd January. Ready to move to the gateway 24th Jan.
with the final move across the road on Thursday 25th.
Avoiding damage to the trees. 2:00 pm 24 January
4:00pm 24th. January 2007 - at the gate ready for tomorrow.
No need to shut the gate tonight !
Right on time at 12:45pm it passed under the 11.000 Volt power lines
only the 240 Volt system had to be cut.
Our building is 28 metres long, 8 metres wide and 7 metres high
the weight is well over 50 tonnes with one estimate being 80 tonnes
For the third time in its 80 year life this building has arrived at its new location
The Rotary Club of Otorohanga Art Committee, has joined with others in the Community to develop an Arts Centre for our District.
Part of our organisation is based on the proven philosophy of the NZ Children's Art House Organisation, but
our Arts Centre differs in a number of ways - the main difference being that we are not a purely Visual Arts learning institution. Our Arts Centre will encompass all of the common forms of
"The Arts".
Two Committee members, Rotarians Barry Marx and Les Phillips, together with four other Trustees; Lindsay Chitty, Jack Kirwan, Janice Marx and Andrew Ormsby, are prime movers for the establishment of the
Arts Centre in Otorohanga. This will be a studio where children and young people meet for tuition and activities in
"the arts" in a fun atmosphere under the expert guidance of experienced tutors.
Art Centre students are aged from 7 to 17 years and would typically spend a three hour session from 3pm to 6pm, one day per week during school term time. The fee per session would usually be in the region of $15.
With such low fees, and the high ratio of tutors to students, such organisations rely heavily on community and corporate support - additional funding from charitable sources and referral fees from educational establishments are important to the ongoing viability of all similar organisations throughout New Zealand.
Activities are properly structured. Tutors are formally trained and would usually have qualifications accepted by the Department of Education, and all adult helpers are properly vetted and must have a genuine interest in the arts, especially children's arts and culture.
During school hours a typical
"Art House" would receive referrals from educational establishments when pupils with special needs may receive tuition - this could be a child seeking extension of special artistic skills - or a student who requires one on one help through therapeutic art - students with a need for quiet time out following some traumatic episode in their life.
Art is widely acknowledged internationally as an important learning tool - the nurturing of artistic talent is an essential part of brain development in children and adolescents. It is statistically proven that children involved in artistic pursuits do better in their academic studies and go on to achieve at higher levels in their chosen careers.
The Otorohanga Arts Centre: The Trustees are extending the activities for Children beyond visual arts to encompass Drama, Music, Dance, Kapa Haka and other cultural and educational activities such as Elocution, appreciation of Art History, and Children's Film and Photography.
With input from our District Council and other interested parties it is anticipated that the Otorohanga Children's Art Centre facility will be "up and running" during the second quarter or early third quarter of 2007.
Not just for young people - unlike other Art Centres affiliated with the NZ Art House movement, our Arts Centre will also have adult artistic activities - but generally these will be kept separate from the youth activities - and "kids" will be given their own space and time with minimal adult involvement other than skilled tutors and assistants.
The Otorohanga District Council has waived all compliance fees totalling $1723.50, and has with-held the calling for bonds and deposits of $12,000. This generous gesture was made upon the giving of formal assurances by the Trustees that the Trust will make good any damage caused by the moving of the 50-80 tonne building across the street, and that all compliance requirements will be fulfilled.
The transportation cost for the 200 metre journey was in excess of $30,000, power line cutting is $1750 and repositioning at least another $8000. Reinstatement of water, sewerage and drainage is estimated to be at least $15,000 and site development, car park sealing and ancilliary work could exceed $20,000. In all the project will involve something like $90,000 not counting the base value of the structure itself.
The Otorohanga Arts Centre Charitable Trust is now established with 6 trustees appointed with a possible 8 Trustee positions available under the Trust Deed. The Trustees have each personally donated a sum of money to make the Trust financial and a bank account has been set up with
Kiwi Bank - and subscriptions from supporters and parents of young artists will be invited.
The Arts Centre dates from the 1920's when the building was the original Otorohanga High School - later it became the technical block for woodwork and home science classes in the old District High School complex. The main auditorium is now a single large open room 18m x 7.5m x 4.5m stud, with excellent natural lighting. There are three offices, a toilet block and a darkroom for photographic work which we have converted to a kitchen, also attached is a roomy store shed.
The total floor space exceeds 240 square metres making it the second biggest exhibition area in Otorohanga after the Otorohanga Club's main auditorium.
The building was moved from the College grounds to a site almost directly across Hinewai Street where it has been relocated on a grassy plot administered by the Maori Trustee.
The move was made on schedule
25 January 2007 and the building refurbishment will and upgrading will continue throughout 2007 and 2008.
Keeping in touch:
If you wish to be advised of web site updates and to join our mailing list for newsletters via email, please contact the Webmaster at
art@oto-rotary.org and just type
"ART CENTRE NEWS" in the subject line.
You can also contact one of the Trustees by telephone on 021 626 090 or 07 873 7190.
If you are viewing this page outside New Zealand - and you wish to talk to Trustee Barry Marx - look for me on SKYPE iPhone - using ID
barry_marx So far I have had the pleasure of speaking to people in Israel, USA, Australia, Canada, Jamaica and Bulgaria.
This page was last updated 20:30 NZT - 28th August 2007
The Children's Arts Centre at its previous location,
on the Campus of the Otorohanga College.
On Google Earth you can see this building at:
38° 10'44.50 S - 175° 12'23.00 E
Interior View of The Arts Centre
The site at 76 Hinewai Street, Otorohanga before 25 January 2007
On Google Earth you can see this site at:
38° 10'46.00 S - 175° 12'27.25 E
Lindsay Chitty, , Barry Marx and Janice Marx,
Barry's cellphone 021 626 090 is a reliable contact point at all times.
If you are calling from outside New Zealand : +64 21 626 090
email:
art@oto-rotary.org
Post: P O Box 209 Otorohanga, New Zealand
