Artist in residence

2008 artists

The ARC's artist-in-residency project offers artists a place to stay and create on one of our Regional Parks.

Parks through the artist's eyes

Inaugural artists in residence Nic Moon and Derek March completed their residencies in ARC's regional parks in May 2008.

Part of the purpose of this project was to share with you, their responses to living and working in some of our regions most spectacular and special sites.

Nic Moon

Nic Moon's residency was very social and responsive, with daily interactions and input from park visitors to Wenderholm Regional Park.

Her mission was to create ephemeral works using natural materials found at the park. The titles of some of her work Tideline, Skeleton Shelter, Coastal Trade and Pohutukawa Bones indicate some of her preoccupations whilst living on the park. Found objects such as seaweed, ‘skeleton' leaves and windfalls of pohutukawa branches were adopted for her sculptures.

These sculptures were transitory, they changed as nature does.

A couple of the works created by Nic Moon as part of her residency can be viewed below

A visual diary of her work process with a fuller range of photos of her work can also be viewed at Couldrey House, Wenderholm Regional Park.

Two framed photos of her ephemeral works will be ‘in residence' at Wenderholm Beach House where she stayed during her residency. You too can stay at Wenderholm Beach House.

Derek March

Painter, Derek March lived and worked at Atiu Creek - the Auckland Regional Council's newest park recently gifted by the Chatelanats.

Derek spent much of his time on the coast recording tidal changes, mangrove habits and witnessing the wildlife of the area. He explored new techniques and changed his primary medium to create work more quickly.

Some of Derek's work has been reproduced in the form of an outdoor book. This will be situated in Solomans Bay, where he sometimes worked. Derek is also developing some of the work he started on the park for an exhibition at the nearby Albertland Museum.

One of Derek's works will be hung in the Atiu Creek House in which he stayed. This house will be opened up for the public to rent shortly.

Here are some examples of Derek's Atiu Creek paintings.

Visitors to Atiu can view some of Derek's work via an outdoor sketch book, at Solomon's Bay:

Follow the work of these artists - their work may be influenced by their time living on our parks for some time yet.

The artist in residence programme will continue and the duration of the residency has been increased to, up to 8 weeks.