Embellishing the foyer

 

The Judy Darragh photograph

As many of you will have noticed, there has been a posted plea for the huge old artwork not to be replaced in the foyer.  This echoes what has been said, phoned, and emailed to me.  The photograph was in synch with the black, pink/red/orange etc. of the old foyer design, or so many say, but does not work with the white walls.

I personally agree.  Right now, the foyer looks like a welcoming art gallery -- sans art.  We have a huge photograph of the Kumutoto Stream, which everyone likes, and looks great where it is propped.  It's local -- according to Heritage NZ, the photo was taken at the bottom of the city-to-sea steps on Salamanca Road.  I have not been down the steps to check, but others are welcome!  

A lot of people like the two paintings of stones that were created by Ron Druett, my husband.  And they like where they are propped, on either side of the foyer table.  On deep reflection, I decided that Ron would have liked the idea of his art hanging in the foyer of the building he loved, so they are propped there still, meantime.  Nothing can be hung until the paint is 20 days old.

So what do we do with the Judy Darragh photograph?  There is the suggestion that it goes in the lift lobby of one of the higher levels.  There is the alternative of selling it. I researched the artist online, and find that her work has a following. She is known as a 'found' artist, meaning she takes objects she finds, often in recycling bins, and paints them in bright colours and sets them up as statements.  She has a large presence online, and her work does sell.

 Maybe a resident loves it enough to offer to buy it?  Not expecting a huge response for that, Sally Schoon and I will be conferring with Webbs, art auctioneers.  Our contact, their Senior Specialist Mark Hutchins-Pond, will be in touch soon, and we will see what happens.  It will be interesting to know what kind of money we could hope for

Whiteboard

The whiteboard is now up in the passage to the back door, and should be easily seen when taking out recycling.  If you post a messsage, please make sure that you sign it.  Don't be shy!  And please don't walk away with the whiteboard marker. 

Bins and skip

The bins will be moved to the back door, and a skip (the last skip for a while!) will be placed in the driveway by the back door on Friday, if not before.