Ara graduates create new gallery space

_{Green Room founders (left to right) Alex Goulding, Geo Thompson-Skipworth, and George Brunton} 

Even before they were formally awarded their degrees, a trio of Ara Institute of Canterbury arts graduates were already making their mark on the creative scene in Ōtautahi. 

Newly minted Bachelor of Design (Applied Visual Art) graduates Alex Golding, Geo Thompson-Skipworth and George Brunton launched an ambitious project to open their own gallery within weeks of finishing their studies last year. 

By the time they met backstage at the Wolfbrook Arena for Ara’s Autumn graduation, the second exhibition in their gallery, The Green Room, was nearing the end of its run. 

“We were inspired by the ARI or artist-run initiative ‘Hot Lunch’ on High Street back in 2020,” graduate Alex Golding said. “It was something we talked about while at Ara.” 

When tutor Oliver Perkins mentioned their idea to a few contacts, Jamie Hanton from Toi Ōtautahi, the Christchurch City Council’s community arts team suggested they check out a small space tucked behind the Toi Auaha Community Arts facility. 

With the space only available for six months, the students set out to strike while the iron was hot. But graduate George Brunton admits to being taken aback initially by the flaking green paint, exposed pipes, thick dust and cigarette burns in the vinyl in the tiny former wash-up room. 

 “When we saw it, it was kind of scary. But while it wasn’t exactly easy to imagine a gallery taking shape in it, we could see straight away it had a lot of life in it.  

The trio swung into action to convert the space into a gallery for a series of quick turnaround exhibitions.  

_{The Green Room founders George, Geo and Alex at Toi Ahua} 

“It was ambitious, but we wanted it to flow on from our degree and keep exercising our creative muscle in a new way,” graduate Geo Thompson-Skipworth said. 

With no time to apply for funding, they nervously launched a crowdfunding effort, hoping it would gain traction over the holiday period. 

After hitting their financial target, Golding said they were grateful to their whānau and community who joined their labour of love to create the unique space they named The Green Room.  “We provided the unskilled labour and, with a bit of grunt work on the surrounding bricked area, we created a beautiful extension to the gallery for our events which help us express the core values of our project.” 

Those core values include tuakana-teina which encompasses mentorship; whakawhanaungatanga which centres on strengthening relationships; and kōrero, a drive for strong discussions on the local art scene. 

“We want people to communicate things like the need for spaces like this and how there is lack of spaces for arts in Ōtautahi. We want to explore what we can do better.” 

The cracking pace set creating the space has extended into The Green Room’s exhibition season. 

“We wanted to have many artists exhibiting their work. We also wanted a real mix of emerging and already established artists. We were surprised and excited by the influx of proposals that came through,” Golding said. 

With key sponsor Eruption Brewery on board there was a huge turnout to their opening exhibition Rear Window, a collaboration between Lyttleton artists Hugo Van Dorsser and Catarina Arnhold.  The support and community spirit were captured by fellow Ara students, photographer Owen Spargo and film maker Buddy Booth. 

In a full circle moment, former tutor Kim Lowe was invited to feature work from a recent residency in Ōtepoti for The Green Room’s second exhibition Merge.  

_{Ara tutor and Merge exhibition artist Kim Lowe (right) visits The Green Room} 

“It’s awesome as a tutor to see the values we have shared in class getting put into action. It’s not just theory; this is a living and breathing community thing now and these students are out there doing it. We’re so proud of them,” Lowe said. 

Gearing up for their third show foot/path by Lucy Hill opening on April 17th, Golding hopes it’s only the start.  

"We only have The Green Room until July, but we’d like to use this experience to fund a bigger space and keep trying to give artists more much-needed space in Ōtautahi,” he said. 

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