Vibrant ŌTepoti Art Studio Launches Boosted Campaign - August 1st, 2024

Studio2 is a working art studio and gallery in South Dunedin that, for 20 years, has provided a vibrant and inclusive space where people with a learning disability and members of the neuro diverse community can come together to explore and expand their art practice.

With a focus on providing an environment that encourages creativity, our Studio has a roll of over 80 artists who come together with qualified Art Facilitators to inspire each other and contribute to our community through the joy of art. With exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative projects, Studio2 aims to showcase the depth and richness of disabled art, fostering greater inclusion and appreciation within the broader arts landscape.

WHY WE ARE FUNDRAISING

We are a Charitable Trust and in 2021, Studio2 was one of 54 Creative Spaces selected by Manatū Taonga Ministry of Culture and Heritage to receive a 3-year CARE Grant. The grant enabled us to open 5 days a week, greatly expand the number of artists in the Studio and to increase the number of Art Facilitators.

Although the grant ended in January, we are committed to keeping Studio2 and the Margaret Freeman Gallery open, thriving and enhancing the life quality of everyone who steps into the studio or who shares in the work we do.

“Without Studio2, people will not be able to see how creative we are and how awesome things can be.” Julia- Artist

One of the ways we are supporting artists to keep creating is by launching a Boosted Campaign. Boosted is a crowd-funding platform run by the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, and is used by artists and organisations across Aotearoa to ensure exciting and innovative arts events and programs get off the ground and keep running.

Studio2 is set to launch a Boosted campaign on the 1st August, with the goal of raising $30,000 by the end of the month.

www.boosted.org.nz/projects/studio-2

Please visit our Boosted profile to learn a little more about us and some of the ways Studio2 artists are making Ōtepoti a more vibrant and inclusive place to be. It will also give you the chance to support the mahi of one of Aotearoa’s great little (underfunded) creative spaces. Please donate if you can and spread the word.

To coincide with the Boosted campaign our August show, ‘Space Invaders’, is a cosmic collection of drawing, painting, and sculpture by our Sci-fi inspired artists. Also keep an eye out for our artists' large scale prints being shown on lower Stuart Street in collaboration with Ara Toi the awesome Creative Partnerships Team at the DCC. We are also working on a mural for the hoardings for the new South Dunedin Library building site with thanks to Dream South D and the South Dunedin Street Art Trail.

Coming up , we will soon be working with UNESCO City of Literature South Dunedin Poet Laureate, Jenny Powell, on a project producing a book of poems written by the older community of people living in South Dunedin, which will be illustrated and interpreted by Studio2 artists.

We are a community hub always open to new and diverse opportunities, everything we do is made possible with the generous support of our wonderful Community funders, inspired artists and skilled staff.

For more information please ring the studio on 03 4555 222, or feel free to pop in and visit us on Cargill’s Corner - 147 Hillside Road, South Dunedin

artstudio@xtra.co.nz

https://www.instagram.com/studio2creativespace/

https://www.facebook.com/MargaretFreemanGalleryAndStudio2/

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