Sculpt Your Final Thoughts On The Inaugural Boon Sculpture Trail

As the inaugural Boon Sculpture Trail draws to its final week, the Hamilton Arts Trust aka Boon Arts, looks back to that crisp and sunny Kirikiriroa Hamilton morning of 3rd February, when the Trail was officially launched. A large gathering in Norris Ward Park embarked on a hikoi to view the rest of the works, spread across eight sites in Hamilton Central. By all accounts, the past seven weeks have shown that the Trail is a resounding success and well received by the community.

The twenty-six artists selected from across Aotearoa, created twenty-three temporary outdoor sculptures, including two performance pieces and one augmented reality artwork. They responded to curator Claire Ulenberg's call to think about and respond to the theme of ‘this place’, to propose work that engages with our evolving relationship with this unique whenua and provoke interaction and conversation with audiences while showcasing the bountiful diversity in contemporary art practice in Aotearoa.

Project leader Nancy Caiger had designed the Boon sculpture Trail to provide new opportunities for story telling by linking existing sculptures and murals with these new installations. Art is such a part of our lives and Caiger was keen to make art accessible by locating them in public places and to engender a strong collaborative and community focus by engaging with other Hamilton iconic events and galleries. This already immense offering was further enhanced with free well-received guided tours in English, Te Reo Māori, New Zealand Sign Language, Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic.

Of course, such an event couldn’t happen without the generous support of funders, sponsors and patrons. Tiffiney Perry of the Brian Perry Charitable Trust reflected that their trust has always been committed to a vibrant Waikato community and saw the natural fit with the Boon Sculpture Trail with its community focus.

The enthusiastic energy of the general public made the event so worthwhile. Boon Arts thanks those who have come along to enjoy the trail, participated in the performance pieces, taken a tour, shared their photos and stories, like Sandy who wrote “I just wanted to provide feedback about the stunning Sculpture Trail. The team who put this together, the artists and sponsors are to be commended — the sculptures are world class, and in some instances the locations breathtaking.”

Boon Arts is seeking more feedback to help inform the “what next” for the Sculpture trail. Brickbats or bouquets, it wants to hear from you.

It is also running a People’s Choice Award to find the public’s favourite sculpture, and invite you to head to www.boonarts.co.nz/bst to complete their Survey and People’s Choice Award, where you will go into the draw to win a Boon Arts goodie bag worth over $300.

Finally, a reminder, don’t miss the last opportunity to see the sculpture trail in all its glory. There’s still time to book into their final English, Mandarin and Te Reo Māori tours, as well as those free performances. Simply visit www.boonarts.co.nz/bst for more information and to view their calendar of events, and follow @boonartshamilton on Facebook and Instagram.

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