Sculpture Northland event at Quarry Gardens has more than 100 artworks

Tania Patterson adds finishing touches to her sculpture Kahu to prepare for Sculpture Northland. Photo / Tania Whyte

Whangārei Quarry Gardens will become a gallery of sculptures this Friday for the Sculpture Northland showcase.

The gardens will display more than 100 dynamic artworks by 50 talented Northland artists.

The annual exhibition has been running since 2008, showcasing a wide variety of sculptures made from a range of materials and techniques.

This year is curated by Dorothy McHattie, who gets artists from all across Northland together to place their works between flowers and ferns.

Artist Tania Patterson created a sculpture of a Kahu (swamp harrier) for the event.

"The structure is steel, so I welded the steel armature, and then I worked over that with fibreglass, and then I painted it."

Patterson trained as a jeweller and started sculpting after she inherited her father's welding machinery eight years ago.

Contemporary Mozaic Artist Pat George with her sculpture Yellow Bloom at Whangārei Quarry Gardens for Sculpture Northland. Photo / Tania Whyte

Chairwoman of the Whangārei Quarry Gardens trust Jennie Kerr said the event had been cancelled twice because of Covid, so it was great to finally get the show back on the road.

"We just want to get the community into the gardens."

At the last event in 2019, 10,000 people went through the gardens during the 10 days and over 60 per cent of the artworks sold.

"It's really just volunteers that do it all," Kerr said.

Garden manager Guy Hessell takes care of the garden and overseas the volunteers, but he reiterates it's a community-driven project.

"Everyone has equal input, I like to call it flat management."

Whangārei Quarry Gardens Manager Guy Hessell stands shoulder to shoulder with one of the art pieces in this year's Sculpture Northland. Photo / Tania Whyte

All the proceeds from the event go towards the running and development of the Quarry Gardens.

"Damages from the flood in 2020 cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair and events like this help pay," said Hessell.

The art show comes as the Quarry Gardens is also gaining recognition for its fragrant camellia collection, which started 20 years ago.

"We have now 200 scented camellias registered in the gardens which allows us to apply to have the collection recognised as an International Collection," Hessell said.

Lorraine Young overseas the camellias at the Whangārei Quarry Garden. Photo / Tania Whyte

Sculpture Northland will run from May 20 - 29 and will be open 9 am - 4 pm daily at Whangārei Quarry Garden.

Entry to the sculpture event is $10 for adults, $5 for 5 - 12-year-olds and free for under 5's.

The gardens are closed from May 16 - 19 of May for the installation of the artwork.