Garden & Artfest 2012 |
Welcome to the Garden & Artfest website
We are basking in the success of the 2012 New Zealand Garden & Artfest.
Eleven days of spring sunshine enhanced a wonderful festival enjoyed by the thousands who flocked to the gardens, attended the exhibitions, admired art in the gardens, were entertained by speakers, and watched the progress of our Craigs Investments Partners Sculpture Symposium.
Without our gardeners we have no festival and we cannot thank enough the gardeners who not only generously opened their grounds to the public over the festival but also pulled out all the stops to ensure festival visitors a wonderful experience. The gardens looked gorgeous and the addition of food, art and even fashion, and most importantly the presence and personalities of the people who created the gardens, made this festival such an inspiring experience.
The inaugural sculpture symposium was an unqualified success thanks to fifteen sculptors who exposed themselves to public scrutiny as they each created a work over the week. It was fascinating to watch their progress, the public enjoyed their interactions with the diverse characters of the sculptors themselves, and the auction of work drew many spectators and also plenty of purchasers for the stunning results of the symposium. We are pleased to report that the NZ Garden and Art Festival Trust, in a donation partership between GAF and Tauranga City, have been able to select a sculpture from the Symposium for display as public art. For more on this, see our Art and Sculpture tab on this website.
The art and floral art events were well attended. The Masterclass exhibition works started selling on opening night. The BOP Area Floral Art exhibition was spectacular and the ‘Secret Garden’ performance filled Baycourt. Speaker and workshop attendees were entertained and enlightened, and Jade Temepara, NZ Gardener’s Gardener of the Year, proved a highlight of the Urban Rooftop Garden.
I want to thank everyone who participated in the festival – from the festival team and all the many volunteers who put in hours of work, to the many artists who exhibited in gardens, and especially to the gardeners who are the heart of the festival. And also to thank the thousands who made it their festival by enjoying the gardens and the many associated events.
We look forward to the next biennial NZ Garden & Artfest in 2014 and are already planning to make it an even more exhilarating and inspiring and fun festival for you all.
John Beech
Festival Director
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