Love and support for Waikato Artists
The Waikato Society of Arts (WSA) has been working to support Waikato artists for decades. In fact, it’s been nurturing talent and providing a safe space for people to explore and grow artistic skills in Hamilton Central for 90 years.
Their reason for doing this is not for profit, but to spread the joy art brings into the lives of artists and lovers of art.
The WSA is located down Victoria Street in the Arts Post building, right alongside Te Whare Taonga – Waikato Museum. Julie Johnstone is the operations manager for the WSA and said society has several different facets. Upstairs, they are an art school, providing onsite art studios for classes during the week, and they have a gallery space below, free for the public to come through and view people’s artwork.
Johnstone said they “have about 800 to 900 students a year for art classes”. Students from all walks of life and classes range from “5-year-olds to untutored classes”. While people attending their art studios come to learn specific skills, to paint and draw, they also come to be amongst other people to make conversations and build connections.
A lot of these people that visit regularly are elderly or happen to be long-term members that have been coming for 30 years because of the connections and friendships that they’ve made being a part of this community.
There are others from the wider community who also have paid membership with the WSA. Julie says these people are often artists, who get a good discount on the class they provide. But some join specifically to buy art from their galleries and attend their exhibitions and openings to support the community that they are a part of.
The WSA is an organisation dedicated to supporting artists here in Waikato. However, one of their restrictions is they are a not-for-profit group. They don’t have a lot of money for marketing or for staff to reach out and introduce themselves to new communities.
Johnstone said they are grateful for the public and the members of their community for coming through and supporting them, but also feels people need to understand the value of the WSA more. She wonders if the social connectivity that happens through the WSA is being taken for granted? For example, if they lost their art studios and galleries, what would happen to their community?
Johnstone is proud of the WSA and said, “one of their biggest achievements is the fact that they have been here for 90 years, and stuck to their core purpose of providing a space of creativity and support for people that want to experience the arts”.
Johnstone thinks it would be nice if people could spread the word about what they do, and that they’re here – that way people can come and enjoy New Zealand art and support them and the artists along the way.
