Costs revealed for Kuirau Park artwork

The final accounts are in for a sculpture placed in Kuirau Park late last month.

The artwork by well-known local artist Trevor Nathan, which depicts a pohutakawa stamen, cost Rotorua Lakes Council $26,601.16. The sculpture was funded by the arts budget and is managed by the Creative Portfolio group.

In response to the Rotorua Daily Post questions at the time, a council spokeswoman had confirmed the council had budgeted $30,000 for the sculpture out of its public arts policy.

She said the sculpture had "come in well under" its $30,000 budget but said she could not give an exact final figure because all the accounts were not in.

This week she confirmed the artwork's final cost was $26,601.16, which included engineering, painting, pediments and the artist's fee.

Council strategy manager Aimee McGregor said after the 2013 election, councillors had adopted a policy to allocate one per cent of all capital projects for direct investment in arts projects in public spaces.

She said the overarching vision of the portfolio was to build Rotorua's creative sector as vibrant and sustainable.