IT'S BEEN INSPIRING AND MOTIVATING FOR US AT VENTANA
It’s hard to believe that just over one year ago Ventana opened its doors to the Wairarapa and began a story about creativity in the community. It’s been wonderful to learn about our region and all of the incredible talents living in our midst. We are very gratified to see that there are others who share an appreciation of high quality art that is both unique and made by dedicated small business-owning artists.
We’ve received really great feedback so far, which has been very inspiring and motivating for us here at Ventana. I’d like to start our blog post by saying thank you to our community for your support and appreciation these past 13 months. It means a lot to see you come in and check out our new inventory, new art shows, and listen in to our live music nights or join in the fun at the Paint the Masterpiece or Life Drawing sessions, not to mention all of the familiar faces we’ve seen making rings, giant knit blankets, paper flowers, leather sandals, and all the awesome creations that have been made at our workshops this past year!
WE WANT TO SPARK JOY AND CREATIVE FULFILLMENT IN THE COMMUNITY
Coming from a very large conceptual and often pretentious art institution in Los Angeles, Ventana owner Auriga Martin has chosen to cast a wider net and wants to welcome all levels of art enthusiasts, makers, and creators to participate in our Ventana events. Part of our founding vision is to spark joy and fulfillment in the community through creativity and the process of making something of one's own alongside your neighbour. It is from this goal that the idea for a mural walk was born in a late night brainstorming session with Georgina Wiles, founder of Naked Lady Social. Our hope is that for many years to come the mural walk will be an attraction like other famous Martinborough activities such as wine tasting and bicycle tours, furthering Martinborough’s place on the map as a vibrant creative destination.
With the support of the Martinborough Community Board Fund and eight local businesses we’ve lined up an action-packed October mural painting launch. Live murals will be painted by some of New Zealand’s finest muralists throughout the opening weekend of the Kokomai Arts Festival 14-15th October. We’ve got murals large and small making their debut in October and, best of all, there will be a “mural walk” map that will endure for years to come. Please let us know if you’d like maps to distribute from your business location. We think they’re a perfect accompaniment to the wine tasting maps already in circulation.
VIBRANT MARTINBOROUGH IS THE MURAL WALK THEME
Below is a list of the mural locations and their artists. We have several very well known artists on board including our own Andy Shaw as well as Rebecca Farr, Livvy Nonoa, and Tina Rae Carter, a well known tutor at Ventana and the muralist behind the Japanese female figures on the Wellington waterfront. From Wellington we’ve got Greta Menzies and Gina Kiel. (Check out Gina’s recent “Grow Wellington” promotion on social media Gina KieL Grow Wellington, a great mini doco about how cool our capital city is.) And finally, at Te Kairanga Vineyard, we have Auckland’s Andrew Steel painting our largest mural. Andrew’s work can be seen worldwide, you might recall seeing the shark wall near the waterfront New World in Wellington.
For the mural walk we’ve decided to make “Vibrant Martinborough” the theme. Of course each muralist will have a different interpretation of the theme, which will result in very distinct and unique murals dotted throughout town.
Following is a list of each location and its muralist:
P & K Grocery - Gina Kiel
Neighbourhood Coffee - Dustys & Lulu
Thunderpants - Greta Menzies
Ohio Street Shops - Livvy Nonoa
Palliser Vineyard - Tina Rae Carter
Margrain Vineyard - Bek Farr
Ata Rangi Vineyard - Andy Shaw
Te Kairanga - Andrew Steel
BRINGING HAPPINESS AND WELL BEING TO OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH ART
This is the first of many creative projects to come from Ventana. We believe that making quality art available while supporting small artisan businesses is a good way to bring happiness and well being to our community. We are very committed to thinking outside the box to bring creative joy to our community in whatever way possible. Please continue to dialogue with us on what you’d like to see in the gallery, in the shop, and on the workshop list. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and our blog Ventana Blog for monthly updates to all that we’ve got going on.
Ventana Creative Collective is looking forward to being part of the community for many years to come. Thank you Martinborough for being the perfect place to start this creative venture. We can’t wait to see everyone on the mural walk this summer!
www.ventanacreativecollective.co.nz
- Auriga, owner
Ventana Creative Collective
IG: ventanacreativecollective
"Creativity is contagious, pass it on." Albert Einstein
Trish Higginson & Karina Hailwood
Creative Directors
Martinborough Village
Guest writer Auriga Martin
"Let us show you the magic of our region"
enquiries to karina@martinborough-village.co.nz
Copyright MV 2017
