Rotorua Arts Village flat tack with stage fundraising and 200 Show

It's been a hive of activity at The Arts Village recently, with its annual show and ongoing fundraising keeping staff on their toes.

The annual 200 Show, which started in 2014, was opened on December 1 and runs until January 27.

The Arts Village manager Mary-Beth Acres says this year's show has the most exhibitors ever, with 128 artists submitting 263 works.

She says the team is planning something quite special to mark the fifth year of the event.

The show got its name from the works submitted by the artists. Each piece is 200mm by 200mm and priced at no more than $200.

"This means that artists of all ages, abilities and career stages can exhibit side by side.

"It is also perfectly timed for Christmas - as the works start in pricing from around $10 and go up to $200 - meaning you can buy a piece of amazing art from a local artist at a very reasonable price point."

Mary-Beth says this show is a favourite event of the Arts Village team and the artist community, and it has been great to grow the show with the support of local artists.

"Some of the artists are now exhibiting work for the fourth time which is pretty special.

"As a project, The 200 Show is demonstrative of our vision for Rotorua as a community organisation in that it both provides the opportunity of arts participation to the whole community, and it challenges artists with a platform to show their work, try something new, and pedal their wares."

The Arts Village is also excited to have raised enough money to get an outdoor modular stage.

Mary-Beth says the organisation raised $11,500, with $5500 coming from the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust, $1250 from sponsorship and $4250 from the community, its donations box, fundraising concert, art activity and garage sale.

"The effort put in by our tiny team of super stars has been mammoth so we are also excited to have reached our goal so that we can relax a bit and enjoy the victory, as the hours have been a bit long.

"Of course we won't be resting for long because now we have a stage launch to plan!"

She says at this point they are hoping to officially open the stage at The Arts Village on January 10.

Mary-Beth says she is looking forward to being able to have performances at the village, and working with community groups and other performers who use the stage elsewhere in Rotorua.

"We already have a couple of very exciting performance events being planned for January and February making use of the stage and we're really excited to go outside our walls a little."