Brydee Rood has a solid reputation as an installation artist, creating art in response to critical environmental issues. She is a site-specific artist and environmental performance and video artist. She is also art tutor at Whanganui Creative Space, where art of many kinds is produced and the walls bear artistic
Creative Space now open three days a week

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Brydee Rood is head art tutor at Whanganui Creative Space. Photo / Paul Brooks
A recent grant from Manatu Taonga, Ministry of Culture and Heritage, has enabled Whanganui Creative Space to grow.
"They provided a series of grants throughout the country to support creative spaces, to help them expand or support their staffing. They have enabled us to open on a new day," she says. They used to open only twice a week, but the funding means they can open on a third day for the next three years.
"We're open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, now. The new day is our Tuesday. It's more about us being open to others in the community, because this space gets quite busy." She says the third day allows new clients to join. "The new day is set aside for new clients, to support people who would like to come in and have a more focused, quieter art session, working with people with special needs and diversabilities."
Brydee says the space is a "drop-in" on Mondays and Wednesdays, in which anyone can attend. Whanganui Creative Space has hosted groups from Te Oranganui and, until recently, Idea Services.
"We get care assistants and support workers who work with individuals bringing their clients to us. We get people who are more independent in the community coming to us of their own choice; we get people who have come through struggles with mental health who started coming and just continued and want to stay with us — there is quite a variety of people who do come here and use this as their studio space."
Brydee says from this they get a sense of well being and purpose, and from it comes a good deal of good art.
They have to buy their art materials, but would welcome donations.
"The grant will help with that too, but, essentially, the grant is paying for one new day; it's not supporting our other two days, so we still need to continue to fundraise."
Brydee has two assistant art tutors: Kathy Lee and Katherine Barrett, who work a day a week each.
"For the most part, we try to make sure this is a warm, safe, welcoming space, where people can come and find joy in creating."
If Whanganui Creative Space sounds like it would suit you, get in touch with Brydee or drop by.
"Feel free to come and join," she says.
The artists of Creative Space will be exhibiting in Artists Open Studios (AOS) next year, and Brydee will be supporting that. She says she wouldn't mind producing an installation of her own for AOS but it would need support. "It's not just something I can whip up."