Arts & Minds

Yo ho ho, me hearties: potter-sculptor Peter Lange's brick boat, first launched - and leaked - in the Viaduct Basin last year, has sailed off to the Woolshed on the ARC-administered Tawharanui Peninsula, east of Warkworth. The boat joins a blockbuster collection of art for sale in the shed which opens on Saturday at 10am and runs through to March 30 (10am-5pm daily). Art in the Woolshed, a fundraiser organised by the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society, aims to raise money to support the ARC's plan to build a predator fence from one side of the peninsula to the other; work on the fence starts at the end of April and eventually the sanctuary will become home to native birds such as kiwi, pukeko and takahe. Sculptor Barry Lett, who's a member of the sanctuary committee, says many of the artists involved in the show are noted for their environmental concerns. They include Gretchen Albrect, Barry Brickell, Len Castle, Paul Dibble, Fatu Feu'u, Dick Frizzell, Pat Hanly, Michael Parekowhai, John Pule, John Reynolds, Terry Stringer, Denys Watkins and Steve Woodward, whose Whistling Bush is pictured. The fabulous art aside (and everything is for sale), the park itself is a beautiful place to wander, with spectacular sea views and forest walks. Turn off at Warkworth and take the Matakana Rd, then follow the park signs along Takatu Rd.

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EMI New Zealand is not planning to release the new CD box set of all nine Beethoven symphonies, conducted live by Sir Simon Rattle with the Vienna Philharmonic. The performances cost more than £1 million ($2.85 million) to record and an EMI NZ spokesperson said the retail cost of the set would be prohibitive in this country, although it can be ordered via specialist shops; Amazon.co.uk has priced the set at £44.99 ($128.50 plus p&p). The CD set, released in Britain last week, is regarded as a crucial test for the future of classical music recording, "representing a radical return for the music industry to the core classical repertoire after years spent concentrating on populist acts such as Bond and Vanessa Mae," reports the Independent.

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Recommended: Boundary Line by Bob Kerr and Coverstories by Clare Burlinson. A curious but intriguing double show that contrasts Kerr's sensitive feeling for the coastline and history expressed best in long panoramas, with Burlinson's odd recreations of a kitsch period style as an exercise in nostalgia and in converting trash to art by no more than a change of presentation. McPherson Gallery, 14 Vulcan Lane, until March 29.

Te Taumata Gallery, 124 Symonds St: a stirring collection of works in various media by artists from across the country, including Fred and Brett Graham, Lily Laita, Richard Cooper, Simon Kaan, Colleen Urlich and Paora Allen's Uawa ; until March 29.