$235,000 in funding for Aratoi

FUNDING: Aratoi director Alice Hutchison celebrates 2016 funding. She is holding the saddle of Featherston Camp Commandant Colonel Noel P Adams that will feature in next year's Featherston Camp Exhibition. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

With planning underway for two major history exhibitions and programmes in 2016, Aratoi Museum of Art and History's Director Alice Hutchison has successfully secured $235,000 in exhibition grants so far for the coming year, which she says is a huge validation for the integrity of the museum's programme.

One of the most recently secured grants is from the Wellington Amenities Fund, which distributed $1 million to 10 separate regional arts and culture activities.

Aratoi received $35,000 of this, which Ms Hutchison said will help in the funding of two major history exhibitions and programmes in 2016 including the Iwi Exhibition and the Featherston Camp Centenary Exhibition.

"With the Wellington Amenities Fund, I think [Masterton] mayor Lyn Patterson was really influential," Ms Hutchison said.

"She specifically wanted to emphasise support for the Iwi Exhibition which means a lot to us and she advocated very hard for us because she is aware of the competition for funding in the region.

"So this is a huge validation for the integrity of our programme and it means so much because we really do need it and I think the need factor came across as strongly as the project proposals for us in securing that funding."

Ms Hutchison said that though the fundraising targets have "not quite been met yet" Aratoi has been able to hire a part-time curator two days a week and a designer thanks to the boost. "It goes to show that the community and our mayor realises that in order to create these monumental history exhibitions that we want to do, we need to have the support there.

"Large history exhibitions require extensive research and time with a larger and specialised project team and significant production costs - we've been hindered from doing this without key people."

The Featherston Camp Exhibition, opening at the end of January, will be one of these "monumental history exhibitions" that Ms Hutchison speaks of.

"We also want it to be a great surprise with a few 'wow' factors." she said. "We'll just keep the design under wraps and some of the treasures will hopefully be a surprise to visitors."

Other funders of Aratoi include Trust House with an unprecedented exhibitions grant of $115,000 (with $80,000 specifically for the Iwi programme), Trust Lands Trust Masterton, $35,000, Eastern and Central Community Trust, $15,000 with an application under review with the Lotteries WW100 Commemorations.