Celebrating 10 Years of the Ora garden

The award-winning 100% Pure Ora - Garden of Wellbeing celebrates a decade at Taupo Museum this month, and two related exhibitions are being held to celebrate its history.

The garden is a gold medal winning display garden from the Chelsea Flower Show in England which was shipped to Taupo with the help of the Friends of the Museum in 2007.

Exhibitions officer Kerence Stephen said two exhibitions would recognise the garden. The first was curated by the Friends of the Taupo Museum Committee and called Ora - Story of a Garden. "This will explain the history of the garden from conception to today, and the efforts that went into securing it for Taupo," she said. "It's a beautiful part of our museum and has attracted thousands of visitors over the years, so it's nice to be able to tell people how it came to be."

Ms Stephen said the second exhibition would be a community art exhibition, Toi Hauora - Art for Wellbeing. It was being curated by the museum by inviting local artists and creative people to purchase a frame and produce an original artwork to reflect the theme.

"In other words, artists were invited to create an artwork in a medium of their choice that makes them feel great - hence the wellbeing theme," Ms Stephen said. About 60 Taupo locals had contributed artworks that include photography, painting, printing and carving. All are for sale and priced under $200.

Displayed alongside the framed works will be original garden sculptures created especially for this exhibition by local artists Robbie Graham, Toni Brown, David Hawke and Doug Anderson.

Ora - Story of a Garden will run from March 18 to April 10, and Toi Hauora - Art for Wellbeing will be on display from March 25 to May 1.

Taupo Museum is open 7 days from 10am to 4.30pm and is free for Taupo District residents and children.