Hall in this together

Huia's community hub is in need of a makeover, so local artists have rallied to raise funds, as Joanna Davies reports.
Huia's community hall needs a spruce-up.
Already this year, residents of the village have worked hard to replace the old septic tank with a wormorator - a filter that holds a colony of tiger worms which treat toilet waste before the sludge is piped into the ground.
The worms may be busy, but the work on the hall is not yet finished.
New toilets are needed, plus extensions to provide more space for the community groups that use it.
But funds are hard to come by, so Kim Holt and 15 other artists hope to raise  money to help out.
The painter, who lives in nearby Parau, will exhibit her acrylic works at the Huia Infusion art exhibition this weekend.
"It's a great social day for the community," she says. "It gets a lot of the local artists together and it will help the community pay for the renovations."
Mrs Holt, like many other artists in Huia, finds artistic inspiration in the Waitakere Ranges.
"It's just lovely out here. You wake up and see the bush and hear the tui. It is very peaceful."
For the third time, the exhibition is being organised by a local, Janet Reim.
"The hall needed renovations, and I thought organising an art sale would be a good idea. In the first year, 600 people came to the exhibition and we sold a lot of art. Now we are getting artists from further away wanting to exhibit because so many people come," says Ms Reim.
The participating artists work in a range of mediums, including acrylics, oils, and in
photography.
Ms Reim says the work for sale will mostly be priced between $10 and $300.
"We do have a $2000 painting this year, which is beautiful," she says.
"We organise all of this with no budget because it is a really great community day, and we get to showcase the local artists and raise some money for the hall."
The hall is owned by the Huia-Cornwallis Residents and Ratepayers Association. Secretary Jo Quatermass says it's a struggle getting enough money to do renovations.
"The hall isn't in a bad state, but we do want to do some extensions.
"Funds from the art day will go towards the project, which is still very much in the planning stages."
Huia Infusion Art Exhibition,
Sunday, August 23,
Huia Hall, 1253 Huia Rd, Huia.
The Huia Settlers Museum next to the hall will also be open.