Thursday 28 January 2016
Ioka Magele-Suamasi
Creating presentations about their art practice for staff at an art gallery might be a normal task for some art professionals, however it was a daunting prospect for Unitec Students Diana Gordon and Jasmine Te Hira who joined us as part of the Outreach programme internships last semester. But they successfully rose to the challenge.
Outreach Internship Unitec Students 2015:
Jasmine Te Hira (Bachelor of Creative Practices) and
Diana Gordon (Master of Creative Practices).
Both students completed eight weeks with the Gallery, which started by submitting successful applications stating their desire to work in art outreach. Jasmine Te Hira shared her interest in supporting marginalised audiences and shifting their visibility in institutionalised art settings, and Diana Gordon is interested in arts access including promoting public awareness in mental health through the appreciation of the arts. Both these objectives align with our values in our Outreach Programme at the Auckland Art Gallery.
After undergoing an induction and initial training spread out over four weeks, Diana and Jasmine completed the remaining four weeks of their internship by co-delivering four Community workshops with Auckland Regional Migrant Services. Two of these workshops were based at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae at Unitec and engaged refugee women in their first experience visiting a Marae. The workshops received an overwhelmingly positive response and connected the participants to Art Gallery works such as the early Māori portraits by Gottfried Lindauer and Charles Goldie and a commissioned Art Suitcase work titled, On Route to Hokitika by Lonnie Hutchinson.
Both Diana and Jasmine, show potential in their field of study with their work being exhibited at New Zealand Steel Gallery’s, Oceans Made of Sand exhibition curated by Kara Wallace, and prior to the start of the internship, Diana had travelled to Denmark where she attended a Design School Master class supported by Unitec. Since the Outreach Internship, Jasmine has been appointed in a paid internship role funded by Tautai Trust to continue her learning experience across wider programmes within Auckland Art Gallery.
The Gallery makes various internship places available for specific departments throughout the year, including the Outreach Programme Internships which are in partnership with Manukau Institute of Technology and Unitec art faculties. Faculty of Creative Practices lecturer Aanoali’i Rowena Fuluifaga assisted in developing the internship with Unitec, to provide students with rich industry experience.
The next intake for Unitec students is between July and December 2016. Until then, the Outreach Internship will start searching for MIT students to apply for the February to June 2016 intake.
Jasmine Te Hira
Bachelor Creative Practices
Amazing! Connecting with everyone at Auckland Art Gallery and seeing the roles they perform was valuable. Being able to connect with our community through culture and art at the marae was a powerful experience.
Diana Gordon
Masters Creative Practices
The training was interesting and insightful. The schedule had flexible timings which helped work around my school timetable. I enjoyed attending every Friday learning and understanding about the different departments at Auckland Art Gallery. It was a challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated.
More information:
The Auckland Art Gallery Outreach Programme fosters new connections between communities and the Gallery. Together with community partners we collaborate with projects that reach beyond the Gallery’s walls as we utilise our exhibition and collection programmes to further our network understanding of the wider diverse art community. For more information about the Outreach Programme:
Contact: Ioka Magele-Suamasi
Auckland Art Gallery, Outreach Programmer
iokapeta.magele-suamasi@aucklandartgallery.com
The Outreach Internship programme is a volunteer internship accessible by application only and currently available to students through the following courses:
(Semester 1)
Manukau Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Creative Arts Programme
Contact: Steve Lovett (lecturer)
steve.lovett@manukau.ac.nz
(Semester 2)
Unitec, Auckland
Bachelor of Visual Arts Programme
Contact: Aanoali’I Rowena Fuluifaga (lecturer)
rfuluifaga@unitec.ac.nz