Refinery Art Space now on Hardy Street
Refinery Art Space now on Hardy Street
It’s a little bit exciting. The Refinery Art Space (formerly on Halifax St) has relocated to 114 Hardy Street. Imagine beautiful white walls that stretch forever, it’s really quite impressive when you walk in the front door. It used to be a bike shop and was un tenanted for a few years… what a great location.
They’ve been open for 3 weeks and it’s obvious there’s been a lot of hard work involved to get it to this stage.
We spoke with the Community Arts Manager, Lloyd Harwood to learn a little bit about the new venue.
“We love the new space. It’s a multi-functional facility, so we can alter the internal walls to create partitions if needed. There’s a great area out the back which is deal for workshops and as a rehearsal space which can be booked out for short or long term usage. This is a community art space that features a diverse range of exhibitions and events presenting works by local and national artists alike.”
The Refinery Art Space is supported by the Nelson City Council and managed by Arts Council Nelson who has a small team who work here both full time and part time. There’s also a passionate group of volunteers who really helped make this new venture happen.
Lloyd has been in the Community Arts Management realm for over 30 years and it’s clear he loves his job. Formerly from Bristol in the UK, he completed his Fine Arts Degree and met a kiwi girl and relocated to sunny Nelson. Sound familiar?
“Twice each year we reach out for expressions of interest and we get some very talented artists come fwd. We have new exhibitions rotating all the time, and strive to engage a wide cross section of our community. We even had a Blind exhibition where the room was blacked out to give people a really unique insight into what it might be like to be blind. It was a very powerful experience.” says Lloyd.
Creativity is a great thing for any community. To be healthy, vibrant and open minded the Arts are an important aspect of our great city. You can buy artworks here, and know you are supporting local. Check them out.
Opening hours:
Mon – Fri 10am – 5pm
Sat 10am – 2pm
To find out more, visit their website
This Post Has 0 Comments