A group of dedicated artists plus a Creative Taupō community grant came together to equal a fun kids’ experience at last year’s Malcolm Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival.
Plateau Printmakers is a group of eight Taupō district artists keen to share the joy of printmaking who came up with the idea of running children’s printmaking Creation Stations at the winter festival.
The group successfully applied for community grant funding for three printmaking art workshops. At each, the children experienced two different types of printmaking. First they used gelatine plates to print backgrounds and then they decorated those with butterfly and caterpillar-themed lino stamps to produce two beautiful artworks each, one to take home and the other to display in a printmaking exhibition at the Great Lake Centre.
“The kids loved it, and so did the parents,” says Marion Bright of Plateau Printmakers. “The parents got quite excited about printmaking as well, just by watching and helping their children.”
In all, some 70 or so children had the chance to experience the thrill of printmaking and Marion says while the members donated their time, it was the community grant which covered the cost of materials and enabled the workshops to be run at no cost.
She says unless applicants are planning a major event, the process of applying for a community grant is quite achievable in a short time frame.
“The crucial thing is perhaps to make sure that you have your budget sorted because the sort of thing that takes time is getting quotes and a budget together. The rest of it is just being really clear about your audience and the reasons for doing it and what it brings to the community.
“The other thing is knowing that you don’t have to do it all alone if you’re new to it. Rose [Prisk] at the Taupō District Council is very good at helping people with applications and Creative Taupō are very good if people need assistance.”
Sally-Ann Davies, who ran the workshops alongside fellow printmaker Maggie Dawson, says the workshops showed children and their parents the joy that creative pursuits can bring.
"With the digital age we’re working in, people are doing less and less with their hands so it’s that opportunity for families to get together and kids to have fun. Kids just love it; and we love seeing the delight on their faces.”
Plateau Printmakers plan to apply for more community grant funding this year for various projects which take printmaking into the community.
There are two types of arts-focused community grants available: Creative Taupō grants and Creative Community grants, and groups can apply for both. Applications for this round close on Friday 18 February.
For information, go to www.taupo.govt.nz/grants.
Pictured below: Kids enjoying printmaking workshops at the Taupō Winter Festival.
