Update

Due to certain problems at present we have been unable to publish further information at this time. However if you would like an entry form please download one from the Waikato District Council website  www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz  Click on the 'What's On' Icon. This will take you to the entry forms.
Please check back shortly as we hope to have photos up shortly of our previous winners.
If you would like further information then please contact me on 07 828 9912 or clairegregson@xtra.co.nz

History of the BPW - Huntly Artz and Design Festival

Our History

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN

HUNTLY & DISTRICT CLUB INC.

Huntly ARTZ&DESIGN Festival

Project/Proposal for October 2012

The Beginings:

BPW members made a decision in 1999 to hold a “Huntly Textile Award” by utilizing the talents of our members and in turn giving the community of Huntly the opportunity to see for themselves the hidden artistic talents of the artists in this area. We were fortunate to have as a member, Yanny Split, a renown fabric artist who's knowledge was invaluable. 

Workshops were held and our surrounding colleges were also involved. We reached out to over 400 folks who came to see both the show and exhibition.

Due to the success we decided to run the show on a biennial basis and did so again in 2001 and 2003 after changing the name of the event to “BPW Switch on to Huntly Artz” in keeping with our town’s logo. In recent years the name was changed to BPW - Huntly Artz and Design Festival, which reflected the true nature of the event.

The Event:

The 2009 show was held in  the Huntly College for two weeks, during the school holiday period with the show being held on Friday 5 October and Exhibition to be open all day Saturday 6 October.

We concentrated on the success of the past shows and taking into account the growing popularity of the show, we felt it was time to bring more professionalism into the event, hence the approach to a renown co-ordinator and Lighting/sound Technician. We have started small and now that we know the pitfalls, with a more professional finish to the show, the event continues to grow – just like Nelson wearable art - we hope. Of course as you can appreciate this is where we require funding in order to achieve our aim of continuing with this event for the people of this area.

Judging was held the week before and specialist artists were approached to take on the role of judges as there was a number of categories including embroidery, spinning/weaving, patchwork, quilting, flax weaving, photography, floral art, oil , watercolours, acrylics and of course the fashion on show night. A number of new categories were included in the fashion section which allowed a greater number of entries to be received. We were able to offer a sponsored Scholarship of $1000 donated by Genesis for Secondary School art. The many primary schools in this area were not left out and a special category was arranged that fitted in with the schools curriculum for 2007.

The 2007 Event:

Due to the great success of the 2007 event we have decided to continue with the formula that contributed to that success and as we have an unexpected surplus we have already allocated it to the services of a professional co-ordinator, -the same gentleman – Simon Coleman. The College has been booked and it will again be held during the School Holidays in October. We would like to use the same sound and lighting technicians as they are familiar with the venue and we are confident of their ability in producing a professional show with the lighting schemes. The same applies to the staging suppliers as they have worked with us in the past and know the layout of the venue and have worked with our Show co-ordinator on our event in the past. They are also the only people who offer a discount for a community event. A number of new categories have been added for this year.

The 2009 Event:

 Using our new title of BPW Huntly Artz and Design Festival which worked really well in 2007, it is expected that this event will be even more popular than the previous events.

The Costs:

Our District Council have already committed assistance in the form of administration help and we have been thrilled with their encouragement to keep the show as a biennial event and we have also put submissions into Council for it to be included in their long term plans. The Mayor, Mr Peter Harris , has been most supportive and we value his involvement .

In order to make the show an event that everyone in this area can attend, we will continue to keep the cost of the tickets down with concessions available. For your interest there were in excess of 700 involved over the two day event in 2007 and we hope to increase those numbers considerably. There will of course be entry fees to exhibitors but we are hopeful that we can also be keep these at between $5 and $15 per entry. We intend to use these funds to make up some of the prizes. We have a surplus of $9297.60 from the 2007 event and that has been recorded in the budget – this will pay for our show director.  The budget has been worked with previous costs – due to suppliers being unable to give quotes so far out from the event - as our basis for the figures. A small increase has been accounted for and we noted areas where more or less spending was required. This has all been reflected in our budget.

The Planning:

We have the full support of club members and all will have allocated tasks of their choice in order for the show to run smoothly. Our club members have taken ownership of the event and look forward to being involved.

A new event committee has been set up and we have a number of newer members who were involved in 2007 wishing to take on more responsible roles for the 2009 event. As in the past, regular meetings will be held. A separate Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, - with separate accounts – has now been established within our club membership in order to have full club participation without the workload falling on our present executive and committee at club level.