This year’s Chorus cabinet artworks feature a range of designs unique to our region.
The works are inspired by Aotearoa’s native flora and fauna, sandy beach delights, a range of summer fruits, stingrays, and a showcase of three Taniwha (guardian spirits) in Golden Bay.
The annual programme to paint various communications cabinets both brightens the neighbourhood and deters graffiti.
On Edward Street in Wakefield, Alyssa Higgins’ work is Nelson Fruits. Alyssa says Te Tauihu (the top of the south) is known for its summer berries, apples, pears, kiwifruit, and hops. The fruits create a colourful palette showing part of what makes our region special.
In Mārahau on Franklin Street, talented artist Dani Hedges has created Delight of Sandy Bay. She grew up in Mārahau and says she absolutely loved it. One of her treasured memories is the kaimoana/seafood, especially hunting crabs and searching for cockles at low tide.
If you’re heading along Florence Street in Richmond, you’ll see Aotearoa’s Flora & Fauna by Keshia Linyard. This design is inspired by Aotearoa’s wide range of native flora and fauna. It celebrates the uniqueness of our endemic plant and wildlife species, of which we have some of the highest numbers of these species in the world.
The cabinet in Parker Street in Motueka was the canvas for Emma Egan and her work, Stingrays in Deep Blue Water. It was inspired by her favourite sea creature. She says stingrays are magical creatures often seen swimming off the coast of the Tasman region and spotted in Port Motueka.
In Golden Bay, the decoration of two cabinets was a team effort. On the corner of Waingaro Road and West Road SH60 in Tākaka you’ll see the cabinets that depict the three Taniwha/guardian spirits of Mohua/Golden Bay. The designs were created by Liam Egan, Emiley Hadicke and Riley Shadbolt. The artwork was painted by Aynsley Thorpe, Amelie Boettcher and Tyko Morrison. The money earned from completing the murals will be used to buy much-needed display systems for the art department to display students’ work.
"Nelson Fruit" Artist: Alyssa Higgins
"Delight of Sandy Bay" Artist: Dani Hedges
"Aotearoa’s Flora & Fauna" Artist:Keshia Linyard.
"Stingrays in Deep Blue Water" Artist: Emma Egan
"Taniwha/guardian spirits of Mohua/Golden Bay" Artists - see text above
When the opportunity arises, often in conjunction with partners such as Chorus and Network Tasman, we're adding art to our infrastructure to make Tasman an even more beautiful place to live.
In Richmond’s Hill Street, there is a modern take on Hine-te-Kapua, the Māori goddess of the clouds.
Hine-te-kapua aka kootiro kandyfloss Artist: Nerys Ngaruhe
Also in Hill Street, there is a tribute to a very different kind of icon, that kiwiana staple Marmite.
Sunny-tarium Richmond Artist: Stella Wilson
Also in Richmond is an abstract recreation of the inside of the cabinet, with a colourful series of interconnecting fibres.
Connecting Artist: Pauline Neal
In Motueka, there is another abstract creation, this time a tribute to the strong wāhine of the Tasman District, both living and their tīpuna.
Ngā wāhine o Motueka Artist: Melissa Linton
Finally, just south of Wakefield on SH6, there is a bubbly subsurface seascape, bringing a splash of ocean blue to the State Highway.
Oceans Away Artist: Saraya Pomana
In Richmond you'll discover 'Fantail on Wensley' nestled amongst the bush and vegetation on Wensley Road. Chrissy Zesk has painted a fantail/pīwakawaka, which blends in perfectly with its surroundings.
In Mārahau, a cabinet painted by Cammie Blaisdell is titled ‘Connected’. It celebrates the beauty and intricacy of our interconnected ecosystem by featuring humble New Zealand creatures: tuna, puriri moth, and kōkōpū.
A Māpua cabinet, by Simon Neumegen, is titled ‘Stick Together’ and shows a Māpua sunrise and the village’s name rendered in driftwood, reflecting the village’s artistic diversity and nature.
‘Love Blooms’, by Dani Hedges, is featured on a Motueka cabinet and celebrates love in all its forms, and is intended to make people walking past it into town smile.
On another Motueka cabinet on the corner of High and Courtney Street, Amir Vollweiler has painted ‘Weka Island’, a parade of the cheeky birds that gave the town its name.
A Richmond cabinet artwork near Waimea College is titled ‘Beauty of Nature’ and was painted by River Day. It represents the nature that fills the Richmond and Tasman area.
In St Arnaud, Emma Erasmus has painted ‘Kārearea Landing’, which was inspired by the drive to the lake and seeing the birds soaring over the valleys.
Ligar Bay’s cabinet was painted by Krystal Pennell and is named ‘Rainbow Flora Birds’. It shows native birds in an explosion of colour.
Artist Julie Davies has called her work on Pah Street in Motueka 'Whio', featuring two Whio spotted near Flora Hut in Kahurangi National Park.
On Abel Tasman Drive in Clifton, Golden Bay artist Lorraine Polglase has titled her work 'Clifton Medley', which is a celebration of the local natural environment.
The classic kiwi one-lane bridge has been captured in this work in Aniseed Valley by artist Thijs De Koning titled ‘Two Bridges, One Way’.
The beautiful native birds of Lake Rotoiti inspired this work called ‘The Valley’ by Essie Erasmus at Glacial Terrace in St Arnaud.
Amber Sisarich’s art work is entitled Flora and Fauna in our Backyard and can be found on a cabinet in Hill Street, Richmond.
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