Fewer Starving Artists in Dunedin

Over $4,000 has been put been put in the pockets of student artists thanks to the OUSA Art Week held at the University of Otago in the first week of August.

The week is now in its 26th year and attracted more sales and more visitors than ever before.

“Art Week is a really positive event for students and Dunedin.” said Ruby Sycamore-Smith, OUSA President. “It’s a way for us to show Dunedin the great art students can create, and it gives people a chance to see the more creative side of studying!”

The sales from this year’s Student Art Exhibition and Sale held in the University Union reached $4,454, a huge increase on the $2,650 raised in 2013. Over 200 pieces were on show, and of those 65 were sold compared to 47 in 2013. The exhibition also saw more visitors with 1,855 people visiting during the week compared to 1,038 in 2013.

“It is exciting to have so many students attending and involved with art” said Rachel Enright, OUSA Senior Events coordinator. “And since the OUSA takes no fees from the exhibition students reap the full benefits of their art work”.

It wasn’t all art students on show though, with the exhibition giving creative students who don’t study art formally the chance to show and sell their work to their peers and the public.

“It was interesting to see that of the 56 students entered, only 9 were arts students.” Said Sycamore-Smith. “It shows that there’s a lot more to students then their chosen path of study!”

The Dunedin Art Gallery Crawl also grew not just in numbers attending but in galleries involved as five new galleries came on board to bring the total to sixteen.

“For OUSA this is a great way to get students out mingling with the public who share similar interests.” said Enright. “Anyone in town that night would have noticed a big influx of people walking their way around the city’s galleries.”

The week saw ten art installations placed around campus and the very popular Artist and Writer Speed Dating doubled its size to 40 participants.

The OUSA would like to thank the ongoing and invaluable support of the Blue Oyster Project Space who are instrumental in making the week happen, and who continue to facilitate great art projects in Dunedin.

ENDS

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