A charity art auction at last week’s PrintNZ Ink in Our Veins centenary conference not only raised money for charity, but also led to the creation of a print scholarship.
Delegates at the Ink In Our Veins conference made bids for a unique piece of NZ artwork created by renowned Hawkes Bay artist and printer Neville Smith. The spirited bidding stopped when Blue Star Print Group raised its offer to $5000.Initially, organisers intended to set aside a percentage of the winning bid in order to kick-start a scholarship. But, after the auction, Neville Smith donated a further $2000 to the scholarship, enabling auction organisers to forward the full $5000 to the Blind Foundation.
Warren Leslie, president PrintNZ, said, “The generosity of Neville, and of our delegates who bid for the artwork, means that we have sufficient funds to create a training opportunity for one or more people who may not have been able to afford to go down that path. The door is open for others, perhaps senior or retired people with close connections to the print industry, to also contribute and ensure that the scholarship will be permanently ongoing in the future.”
Smith, a compositor by trade, posseses one of New Zealand’s largest collections of wooden type. Producing over 30 collages in the past 10 years, he won the Telecom Art Awards in 2000.
The auctioned artwork, a collage made from wooden type dating from as far back as the mid 19th century, contains the letters in the alphabet and numerals - 120 pieces in total. It features elements used in letterpress printing, brass, lead, and wood with a copper electrode. The collage also features in PrintNZ’s commemorative book “Ink in Our Veins”.
PrintNZ expects to discuss the scholarship structure at a strategy meeting late this month, with a view to launching it next year.
