Workshop for young art lovers

Internationally acclaimed New Zealand artists are teaching and nurturing passionate Bay of Plenty students.
Tauranga Artweek gives 30 Year 11 to 13 students the chance to create art that will be exhibited and then auctioned at Wickham Private School on Sunday, January 22.
Organiser Kathrin Cass said opportunities for young artists outside the main centres is limited.
"This is an opportunity to create something for young people without the financial burden to their parents," she said.
"It is really important to give them the opportunity regardless of their socio-economic background, because it all costs a lot of money."
The students are put into three groups for the week-long workshop, working with one of three internationally acclaimed New Zealand artists.
The groups will be decided based on the student's interests.
"This is not a painting class," said Mrs Cass.
"It's about giving young people the opportunity to work with a professional for a week."
Mrs Cass is from Austria - where the idea originated. Salzburg was famous for many forms of art. This is something she and the other two organisers of artweek hoped could be fostered in Tauranga.
Students applied by sending in a letter and examples of their art work.
Mrs Cass said that not everyone was as developed but their passion and desire was the ingredient they were looking for.
Forty students applied but only 30 students were chosen from the Bay region.
The first artist, Jeanne Macaskill, has painted and taught art for more than 50 years.
This year she received the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to arts and the community.
She hopes, through her tutorage, to help increase students' creativity, imagination and perception of the environment and knowledge of contemporary art.
The second artist, Lynette Murray, has recently returned from Germany - her art work is displayed all around the world.
She will teach students to move from the drawing to the painting and to talk about that development.
The final artist, Sean Kerr, is the head of visual arts at Elam School of Fine Arts at Auckland University.
He will expose the students to the powers of video and visual media.
The students attend workshops everyday from 10am to 4pm.
On Saturday, January 22, students set up their work for the exhibition and doors open to the public at 3pm.
The auction is on the Sunday at 2pm.
Mrs Cass said the organisers will see how the artweek goes before discussing next year's workshop.
"Some of the children may never go into art," she said. "They may become bankers. It's about giving them the opportunity and the exposure."