Auction Of Best-Known Artworks Raises $40k

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Auction Of New Zealand’s Best-Known Artworks Raises
More Than $40,000 For Hospice New Zealand

2003 YELLOW PAGES® Arts Charity Auction

The 2003 YELLOW PAGES® Arts Charity Auction has raised a total of more than $40,000 for Hospice New Zealand as artwork from all over the country went under the hammer on Thursday night.

The auction, held at the Novotel Ellerslie in Auckland, saw people bid for a wide array of artworks from 18 regions in New Zealand. All the artworks were entries into the YELLOW PAGES® Arts Scholarship, a nationwide competition that sees artists vie to have their work feature on the cover of their regional Telephone Book.

Top price fetched was $2,500 paid for Texture of the Region, by Craig Spankie of Otago, followed by $1500 paid for Any Beach, Every Time, by Roberta Te Wheoro of Auckland and $1200 paid for Windswept, by Tony Cribb of Christchurch.

The proceeds from the auction will go to Hospice New Zealand to provide the country’s 37 hospices with art therapy materials and training.

Hospice New Zealand CEO, Ann Martin, said art therapy at hospices is an effective way for terminally ill people, and their families and friends, to express themselves as they cope with the reality of their illness or that of their loved one.

"Art therapy is one of the many services provided by hospices around New Zealand, and it is an effective way to allow people to come to terms with their terminal illness, or, in the case of family and friends, to learn how to accept death as a natural process," Ms. Martin said.

Ms. Martin said Hospice New Zealand and hospices value the support they receive from YELLOW PAGES®.

"We are most grateful for the support and delighted to be able to use proceeds from the auction to provide art therapy services for local hospices," she said.

“We are proud to be the recipients of the auction and greatly value the support from YELLOW PAGES® to assist the hospices with their art therapy programmes,” she said.

Telecom Directories Ltd General Manager Roger Shipp was also pleased with the amount of money raised. “To raise more than $40,000 for Hospice New Zealand is a fantastic result and a testament to the skill and quality of work available from New Zealand artists. It’s been a unique opportunity to both showcase regional art and benefit a tremendously worthy cause,” he says.

Further information on the 2003 YELLOW PAGES® Arts Charity Auction and YELLOW PAGES® Arts Scholarship can be found at www.yellowpagesarts.co.nz.

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