Regional meeting update.

Firstly thank you to everyone who turned up. It was lovely to meet, gather and connect with so many of you. I have collated the ideas, thoughts and future proposed events and added them below. We all indicated it would be great to catch up again in a couple of months on 5 May at 2pm. I will confirm location nearer the date.

Northland- Te Tai Tokerau CNZ  Meeting 18 February 2024 

Future Events Ideas (what do we want for Northland)

• 10-day Summer Event/Conference – Knowledge sharing/learning/tutors from around Aotearoa, multiple venues, 5 – 15 January 2025

Workshops – multiple, different techniques, throwing, hand building, surface decoration, glazing etc 

Talks – Artist talks

Firings – Raku, soda, wood, pit, electric (opening of wood/soda kiln on the last day)

We collated names of ceramic artists, and the type of workshops/learning people are interested in. This is evolving and can be added to by others at any time.

Purpose- Learning, sharing of knowledge, growth of ceramics, bring people to the area.

• Studio Trail – A weekend open studio day, possibly _ spring or autumn time, Labour Weekend? Addresses, maps of locations, maybe coincide with the CNZ national studio trail. 

Purpose – Promotion, awareness, and sales 

• Ceramic Market – One day event, maybe Dec (Christmas) or May (Mother’s Day) purpose – promotion, awareness and sales. 
• Big Clay Day – One weekend event, stalls, demo’s, events, food, raku firing. Purpose – fund raising, awareness, promotional.
• Glaze Group – for the learning and developing of glazes for specific events such as the wood firing – cone 10 glazes. This could then develop into other glazes, temps, for different styles of firings e.g. raku.

What is already going on that we know of: 

1. The building of the Phoenix kiln at the Quarry Arts Centre – Duncan Shearer and local team will be building the new kiln 5 – 15 March 24.
2. Community wood firing in the large kiln at the Quarry Arts Centre (May?) date to be arranged. Cone 10 temp. Enquires to Richard, the kiln technician at the Quarry – Richard Darbyshire kiln@quarryarts.org
3. Ceramic diploma course, through Otago Polytechnic – practical element delivered at the Quarry Arts Centre, Whangārei. Check on the Quarry’s website for details and links.

Other areas to research/ look at, that were discussed

• ArtBeat 2025 – promotion of the ceramic community
• Look back at past conferences/gatherings 1999 – national conference, 2016 UKU North etc- see what worked/or didn’t for moving forward. Learn from them.

Areas of feedback for Ceramic NZ 

• Interactive map on website of all members
• Info on the website of events, awards etc (work on this is being done)

Conclusion

• Focus on one event at a time.
• Our main focus is on the 10-day Summer Event/Conference
• All people present were happy to have a sharing email system where everyone can contribute and see each other’s comments.
• Have another meeting in a couple of months, to continue to share and add to the discussion and focus of the 10-day Summer Event/Conference

Sunday 5^th May 2pm 

Diploma in Ceramics

Take your ceramics to the next level with an NZQA-approved programme with weekly hands-on studio tuition at the Quarry Arts Centre.

Gain the NZ Diploma in Arts and Design (Levels 5 & 6) – Ceramics with Dunedin School of Art, Otago Polytechnic, held at the Quarry Arts Centre, Whangārei.

Each level involves one year full-time, or two years part-time study, with a split of academic distance learning and in-class practicum study with specialist tutors on location at Quarry Arts Centre. Each year of the programme consists of 30-weeks’ study and 2-weeks’ assessment time. 

Complete the diploma and your next step could be a Bachelor of Visual Arts! 
For general information and enrollment, follow the links below:
Level 5 Brochure 
Level 6 Brochure

For information about the in-studio experience at the Quarry Arts Centre, contact Russel Mooyman – manager@quarryarts.org