Artist's eye view

A once-empty, former post office in Parau  has a new life, through the creative ingenuity of local artists. Joanna Davies explains.
For almost 20 years, apart from occasional attempts to start a new business in it, the old post office in Parau has stood empty.
At one time or another it's been a craft shop and a veterinary clinic, but the businesses have not survived for very long.
For seven years, local resident Nicky Hartley has driven past the old shop, wanting to do something with it. She,  and a group of artists from Huia, Laingholm and Titirangi, have got out the paint brushes and fixed it up, turning it into an open studio where people can watch artists at work.
Outside, a giant wooden envelope hangs from the roof, welcoming visitors to the Art Post, in tribute to the post office that closed in the 1980s.
"Before we started, the floor was the only redeeming feature of the shop," she says.
"We spent a few weeks, working weekends and evenings, to fix it up."
Huia artist Kym Marsden hopes the studio will be a success.
"We get a lot of traffic through here with people driving to Huia. A lot of people don't even realise that they've driven through Parau, but we hope that people will stop and come in for a look and a cup of tea."
She says eight artists share the rent and take turns exhibiting their art and work in the studio.
"We don't just want this to be a place where people come to buy art. We want this to be somewhere that they can come and see us working and find out about getting commissions," says Ms Marsden, who hopes more artists will look into using the studio  to help keep it running.
"We have a lot of community support and we want it to be a place for the community to use, because Parau doesn't have a community centre - most people have to go to Laingholm or Huia."
Doug Robertson has owned the building since 1989, when it was a vet clinic.  "From the 1950s to the early 1980s it was a post office and general store, and I opened a craft shop there in 1990. But for the amount of time I was putting in to keep it running, it wasn't viable."


He says more and more people are visiting the area and he expects the studio will do well.
"There are a lot of good people who are really enthusiastic about seeing it succeed."
How to get there 
The Art Post, at 624 Huia Rd, Parau, is open every weekend from 10am to 4pm.
At the Titirangi roundabout in Titirangi village, turn left down Huia Rd and drive for about 10 minutes. For more information email: theartpoststudio@hotmail.com