For the month of September, instead of just one or two featured artists, the Thames Art Gallery will host the works from a group of artists for its Members Art Exhibition.
It all kicks off on August 29 with the opening from 2pm onwards with light refreshments provided.
Thames Society of Arts Inc secretary Wendy King told The Profile the exhibition was prompted by the late Dennis Raines, who made a donation before he passed as a memorial to the late Paul Heffernan, who was the president of the Thames Society of Arts.
“We decided to have a members’ exhibition and use some of that money to be prize money for different categories,” Wendy said.
Categories the members could enter their artwork in include prints, painting and photography, pottery and ceramics, wood and textiles and mixed media.
There was also an award created in memory of Paul Heffernan.
“With some of this funding that we decided to use as a kickstart for the exhibition, we actually made a colour award as one of them because Paul Heffernan was a very colourful character.”
While there were around 130 Thames Society of Arts members, Wendy said around 30 artists had signed up to display their art work for the exhibition.
“One person’s already dropped their items off because they’re going to be overseas.”
Wendy, who is also an artist who works with watercolours, said she was in the process of tweaking and making her work presentable to display in the exhibition.
“I’ve got at least one that needs to go into a frame. I’ve got another that needs a little bit of a tweak and it can go on the frame. And I theoretically would like to do a third thing, but it’s kind of like, I don’t need to be inspired, but it’s got to be presentable.”
Those who made time to head along to the exhibition during September could expect to see the different varieties of work that showcase imagination, skill and colour, she said.
“This is stuff that people are doing in their basements and their garages and living rooms.”
DETAILS: The Members Art Exhibition, Thames Art Gallery, 604 Tararu Rd, Thames, 10am to 2pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on weekends in September. The opening day begins at 2pm on August 29.
By DAVIDDA HIKATANGATA
