MCAC Chairperson’s Report 2013
For the Annual General Meeting held on 16 April 2014 at Selwyn Gallery at 7.30pm
It is my pleasure to present this annual report of the activities of the Malvern Community Arts
Council for the year ending 31st December 2013. I want to again start by thanking all the committee
members; those from the executive, gallery, performing arts and artweek committees who are
dedicated to providing great art and cultural experiences and activities to the people of Malvern. It is
your huge commitment of time, ideas and energy, and the time given by our many other volunteers
working together that has made 2013 another successful year for the organisation both financially
(we broke even in a difficult market) and more importantly in the range and quality of activities we
offer to our community.
The Selwyn Gallery had another successful year in 2013 with nearly 5500 visitors. A wide programme
of artists exhibited in Gallery 1. We started the year with a wonderful and whimsical exhibition by
David Lloyd and Blanche Fryer and ended the year with the moody Simon Edwards drawings.
Throughout the year we had a wide range of beautiful, colourful and interesting artworks on display
including patchwork, glass, ceramics, jewellery, textile art as well as paintings and drawings from a
variety of mostly Canterbury based artists. We also had a very successful one week “Show Off”
exhibition where the gallery was filled with a variety of artistic expression from the community in
celebration of 15 years of the Selwyn Gallery being operational. Gallery 1 also showed works from
local Darfield High School students and the local spinners and weavers group and was used for a
Xmas market as well as exhibiting works from primary school students.
This primary schools exhibition, with a focus on Maori myths and legends, was the culmination of
workshops that the Arts Council funded in a further 3 primary schools in 2013. Vicky Peacock was
employed to run workshops with Hororata, Greendale and Windehistle schools and the resulting
works were exhibited for two weeks in the gallery, alongside works made by young people at two
holiday workshops. Thanks to Vicky for her professional approach and to the Selwyn District Creative
Communities Scheme from Creative New Zealand for supporting the holiday workshops and
exhibition at the gallery.
Gallery 2 continues to provide an important outlet for the works of over 60 predominately local
artists. I thank Judy Finlayson for the enthusiastic way in which she tackles her job of seeking
new artists and coordinating the stock rotation in this gallery space and to Sylvia for taking on Judy’s
responsibilities for some of the year. Thank you also to Gallery Committee members who each give
their time to hang new exhibitions each month, attend openings and generally keep the gallery tidy
and running smoothly. Of course the gallery would not function without the over 50 volunteers who
mind the gallery. This enables us to be open 6 days a week - a huge achievement for a small
community gallery so a special thanks to these minders.
The gallery also took the opportunity in 2013 to spread its reach by arranging artwork to be
exhibited at The Oaks, a dining venue close by. The artworks will be rotated regularly, enabling more
people to enjoy art in our area.
Darfield Artweek in October 2013 was another very successful event with 116 artists exhibiting work
in the 10 day exhibition at the Darfield Recreation Centre. Judge Grant Banbury awarded the
premier award to artist Libby Baxter and local artists and ex-MCAC committee members Lorraine
Natusch and Jan Mitchell were also awarded major prizes. All three of these artists will exhibit in
Gallery 1 in 2014. Thanks to the Artweek committee for all their hard work in organising this large
event – it was again very professionally managed and changes to the administrative process went
very smoothly. Our thanks also go to local businesses, the Malvern Community Board and Friends of
MCAC who generously sponsored the major prizes, and contributed to covering the costs of the
catalogue, hire of the venue and the opening night and a special thanks to Aroya Bowden for ably
managing this sponsorship process.
The film society continued to operate in 2013, moving to the warmer environment of the Darfield
High School drama room but unfortunately there have not been enough members to keep this
initiative going in 2014.
The Performing Arts Committee successfully organised two very popular events in 2013. The Helen
Maulder show, “Playing Miss Havisham”, attracted a large and appreciative audience in August and
the music event, “Spring Serenade” in September allowed another large audience the opportunity to
see local MCAC scholarship winners Saba Charles and Dudley Fairbrass as well as the Darfield High
School jazz band and four university music students. Thanks go to Sherlee Sadler and the rest of the
performing arts committee for their work in bringing these performances to us.
The Executive Committee, have the job of overseeing the operations of the Arts Council as a
whole and ensuring budgets are adhered to and planning is well thought out. Thanks to all members,
especially to our treasurer, Alastair Nicol, for keeping our finances well-ordered and in the black.
We are very appreciative of the Canterbury Community Trust for their $15,000 grant in 2013 that
enabled us to employ an Arts Coordinator for 16 hours a week. As our operations become
larger and more complex it is fantastic that we are able to reduce the volunteer burden and
employ some professional assistance. Ingrid Cole has done an excellent job in managing all
contacts and communications with artists who are exhibiting in Gallery 1 as well as producing
advertising and other promotional material such as invitations, posters and catalogues for
all MCAC activities. Her skills allow us to present a truly professional image to artists and the
community and we thank her for her continued commitment to the role in 2013.
We also received funding in 2013 from the Selwyn District Creative Communities Scheme for the
primary schools workshops in the gallery and the two performing arts events. We would not have
been able to put on these events without this support so thanks to Creative New Zealand for
supporting community arts activities.
Thanks also to Four Winds Foundation who supported us in the purchase of a new EFTPOS machine
for the Selwyn Gallery that is able to accept credit cards.
Orion has recently completed the reroofing of the building and we thank them for their ongoing
commitment to the arts by providing us with the use of the building.
2014 is shaping up to be another great year for the Arts Council with several special exhibitions,
concerts and a new “Have a Go” event to look forward to and we look forward to your on-going
support.
Kirsty Peel - Chairperson