Glass art attracts plenty of interest at Whanganui market

Niquita Coates-Harrison was one of the hundreds of happy shoppers to visit the New Zealand Glassworks market day. Photo/Stuart Munro

Lovers of glass art flocked to the market day at New Zealand Glassworks – Te Whare Tūhua O Te Ao (NZG) in Rutland St on Saturday.

It was a one-day-only sale of samples and seconds by artists from Whanganui and other parts of New Zealand.

NZG manager Scott Redding said more than 500 people visited the market and artists and visitors alike were very pleased with the day.

"It was quite chaotic in the morning and some artists sold most if not all of their works.

"Philip Stokes sold out in about 15 minutes which wasn't too surprising because his works were so reasonably priced.

"He wanted to have a clearance and move on to his next phase."

Other artists with work for sale were David Traub, Greg Swinburne, Katie Brown, Kathryn Robinson, Triona Cooney, Claire Bell, Marcus Ingley, George Agius, Rhys John Carr, Kristen Hurdle, Brendon Sole, Donna Sole, Dominic Burrell and Nicholas Toyne.

"The great thing was that everyone did well," said Redding.

"People were buying all kinds of glass art and were not just going for a particular type of work as they sometimes do."

UCOL art students also had some of their work for sale and Redding said 100 per cent of sales revenue went to the artists.

"It is nice to think that they got a financial boost before Christmas and a lot of people will be getting great gifts this year."

Glass artists made plenty of sales at the New Zealand Glassworks market held at the interactive facility in Rutland St. Photo/Stuart Munro

NZG celebrated its second birthday in September and Whanganui will host the inaugural Australasian Glass Conference in February 2019.

The New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass (NZSAG) and its Australian counterpart Ausglass have previously organised their own conferences on alternate years.

Ausglass asked that the conference take place in Whanganui and Redding said the city is known as a glass hub already visited by a number of Australian artists.

The plan is to have events spread through Whanganui with the NZG facility as a focal point.