Whanganui Potters Society president Ruby Duncan says there has been a real resurgence in the art form post Covid-19 lockdown. Photo / Logan Tutty
Whanganui Potters Society president Ruby Duncan says there has been a real resurgence in the art form post Covid-19 lockdown. Photo / Logan Tutty
Local community educators and tutors in the arts and crafts space are experiencing a strong uptick in interest from locals.
The Whanganui Potters Society has had a strong increase in interest in the last few years, with beginner's classes for the next term all full and spaces for the finalterm of the year filling fast.
President Ruby Duncan said the club's membership had gone up and down over the last few decades, but was sitting at a very healthy spot at the moment.
Duncan had never tried pottery before moving to Whanganui just over four years ago.
"When I first arrived, it was still fairly slow. It's been growing the entire time, but now I'm being asked every day about classes. All the time people are coming in.
"As an aesthetic, pottery went out for a while. It was big in the 80s, through the next few decades the club really floundered and people weren't interested in doing it. Now we are just getting this resurgence."
The society offers both hand-building and wheel classes, but mainly focuses on hand-building.
She said people enjoyed making something for themselves and the meditative state that came with the art form.
"It gets you into that little playful space that we have as children where you are just creative. It gets you out of your head and gets you flowing with your creative side.
"A lot of the older ones like to come in for the social aspect and for new people to Whanganui, it is a good place to meet new people."
Duncan will run an induction day on August 1, where anyone interested can come along to learn about the society and what they do.
The club's annual exhibition starts on Friday, July 23, in the front exhibition room of the Whanganui Community Arts Centre, 19 Taupō Quay.
"It's amazing what these people can do and a lot of them have been doing it for a short period of time."
The exhibition runs until August 1, and opening hours are 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday, Saturday 9.30am to 4pm.
Community Education Whanganui is about to launch its next term of classes, with the first starting in early August.
Community Education administrator Cherie Selby (left) and manager Mel Shaw say there has been a surge in interest over the last 12 months. Photo / Logan Tutty
With classes in the arts and crafts, culture and languages, wellbeing, culinary, music and photography fields, Community Education manager Mel Shaw said there was a class of interest for everyone.
"The variety is huge. It surprises people how many we offer.
"A third or more of our classes are art based because we live in this beautiful, creative community. All of our night classes are run by working artists from our community."
With all the funding for Community Education coming strictly from enrolments in its classes, it could sometimes be difficult trying to expand without knowing what the interest would be, she said.
"It's been hairy at times, but we are really well supported. Our demographic is changing too. Now that we are running more arts classes, we are getting more younger people.
"It's about being relevant too. We keep a very close eye on the community and what's happening around Aotearoa in other education spaces and seeing what's popular."
She said post-Covid they had noticed a strong uptick in interest, particularly around Te Reo Māori and wellbeing practices.
"We're about learning, but we are also about social connection. People love the tutors, they love the learning, but they also love that social connection between generations."
For more information and a full list of offerings from Community Education, visit their Taupō Quay office or visit https://communityeducation.nz/.
