Local artist pays it forward with inaugural fund

Joshua Brake, Terry Fergusson and Kaeleb Kereopa-Ngatai. Photo / Felix Desmarais

Two local emerging artists have received inaugural gifts from The Bushman's Son
Fund managed by the Geyser Community Foundation.

The foundation's executive officer, Annette Burgess said well-known local artist, Terry
Fergusson established his endowment fund in 2017 to support emerging artists and
writers within the Rotorua district.

Joshua Brake, Geyser Foundation's Annette Burgess and Kaeleb Kereopa-Ngatai. Photo / Felix Desmarais

"We were proud to have been chosen by Terry to manage his fund, which is wideranging. Applicants can study, engage with or participate in visual or written arts,
such as drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, graphics, architecture, writing and
poetry."

This year Fergusson chose two local artists, Joshua Brake and Kaeleb Kereopa-Ngatai to
receive the inaugural awards, each of which has a value of $1000.

Brake is passionate about photography and has been taking photos since he was 3.

Recently he has been playing with light and shutter speed to improve his images, often mixing that with portraits and landscapes.

Ngongotahā artist Terry Fergusson - the Bushman's Son. Photo / NZME

Kereopa-Ngatai is into pottery. He said he enjoyed the process and the transformation and hoped to one day become a successful ceramic artist.

A total of six applications were received this year.

Passionate about the arts, Fergusson said he knew only too well how hard it could be
to get an arts project off the ground.

"There's not a lot of support out there for amateur artists, and it can be very difficult
to find extra money to pay for things like materials, promotion and advertising", he
said.

"As the son of a 'bushman' and his wife, I set up this fund in my parents' name which
keeps it flourishing and very close to my heart. Their image adorns all the media
surrounding it which is powerful and humbling all at the same time.

"It's fantastic to see the fund grow, especially now it is being used to help out local
artists."