Our Story
Eden Arts has initiated and supported a number of local projects over the years.
Eden Arts has initiated and supported a number of local projects over the years.
Stokes Road Mural - Claudia Pond Eyley
Eden Arts has contributed a number of public artworks to Mt Eden Village.
The colourful mural on the side of the Frasers cafe building was first painted around 35 years ago by local artist Claudia Pond Eyley. It was commissioned by the then Borough Council and upgraded some 10 years later with assistance from the Maungawhau Mt Eden Community Arts Trust (Eden Arts). Claudia has been seen on many occasions over the years on her ladder working on this mural at the corner of Mt Eden Rd and Stokes Rd, repairing weather-damaged paintwork or areas of graffiti. In mid-2014 and also at the beginning of 2024, Eden Arts again made donations to Claudia to assist towards the upkeep of this iconic piece of public art in the heart of Mt Eden.
Claudia is an iconic Mt Eden artist who has been a loyal supporter of Artists in Eden Day and other Eden Arts projects over many years.
Bystanders – Richard Wedekind
An Eden Arts initiative in 2010 was the commissioning and installation of the sculpture Bystanders by Richard Wedekind in Essex Reserve behind the Mt Eden Village shops. Made of corten steel, this work was publicly unveiled by the Hon. John Banks, then Mayor of Auckland City, in June 2010.
Said the artist "Bystanders is a sculpture comprising three figures. They have a common focus and interest in their immediate environment and the activity surrounding them. This work is about shared community experiences and as such these figures are the quintessential bystanders. I believe this concept reflects the essence and people that is Mt Eden. May this sculpture also become an endearing addition to that and become a familiar focal point to the village."
Tahuri - Peter Lange
In September 2013 Eden Arts was proud to host the unveiling, by Dame Cath Tizard, of a new public sculpture Tahuri in the heart of Mt Eden. This Eden Arts project was done in collaboration with Auckland Council and recognises the significant contribution local artist Peter Lange has made to the artistic life of Mt Eden.
Peter Lange is one of New Zealand's most successful contemporary sculptors. This work features three supersized kumara rendered in brick and pipe fragments in the artist’s signature playful style. The kumara itself played an important role in Mt Eden's rich history and development.
The Story of Tahuri
Tahuri was from Waikato and married into the Waiohua people of Tamaki. Her home was on Maunga Kiekie. Tahuri had green fingers and became legendary for her kumara gardens that stretched from Maungakiekie to Remuera. Several species of kumara were brought to Tamaki on the Aotea waka and Tainui waka. Prior to this, the fern root was the staple diet, a harsh and highly carcinogenic food... The kumara created a new economic wealth that provided for larger populations that could remain in one place for longer periods. As a result Tamaki became much more densely populated with every volcanic cone becoming the station for massive storage facilities which of course had to be defended with engineered fortifications.
One could say it was the kumara that modified the volcanoes of Tamaki, including Maungawhau. (Pita Turei)
Mt Eden Village Sign
A large "Home of the Arts" sign has hung at the entrance to Mt Eden Village (outside the church on the corner of Valley Rd) for many years, courtesy of Eden Arts. The sign can only stand the ravages of the outdoors for so long and the current sign is now the fourth incarnation. An earlier version paid tribute to the late Pat Hanly and since March 2012 the sign has shown an image by the late Sir Peter Siddell as a tribute to his longstanding association with Eden Arts. The current sign was installed in 2017.
Young Artists Awards
The Young Artists Awards began in 1989, the same year as the first Artists in Action (as Artists in Eden was originally named). $3500 of the $4000 auction proceeds funded the prize to a local young artist aged between 16 and 25, living or studying in the wider Mt Eden area. The inaugural winner was Brigid Eyley, daughter of Claudia Pond Eyley. Subsequent prize winners include Emily Siddell, Rebecca Tune, Adrian Jackman, Andrew McLeod, Jennifer Mason, Sam Thomas and Hannah Ireland.
These annual awards were aimed at providing an opportunity for young artists to exhibit their work in a professional gallery environment and to kick start their career in the art world. Many of the participants over the years have gone on to successful careers as artists. The judges were eminent artists such as Pat Hanly, Carole Shepheard, Liz Maw, Jeff Thomson and Dick Frizzell, and the prizes were generous.
After 30 years and hundreds of young artists, the Young Artists Awards are currently in hiatus. They were a casualty of Covid-19 in 2020 and have not taken place since then.
Literary Events
Eden Arts' literary events have been many and varied from the very early days, thanks to a number of literary-inclined members of the board and committee.
The late and great Michael Gifkins was a leading NZ literary agent and longstanding Eden Arts board member. With his distinctive wit and legendary sense of language he hosted many Eden Arts literary dinners at venues such as Berlin Restaurant and Mantells in Mt Eden. Guest speakers over the years have included Peter Carey, Tim Winton, Kathy Reichs, Lloyd Jones, Greg McGee and most recently Ruby Porter. Since 2019, the event has been re-named The Michael Gifkins Literary Dinner in his honour.
Liz Ebbett was also a longstanding Eden Arts trustee and stalwart of our literary events. Thanks to a generous bequest in her will, Eden Arts has established the Elizabeth Ebbett Literary Residency which is a stipend for writers selected as artists-in-residence at Karekare House.
Eden Arts began an annual Writers and Readers Festival in 1990, featuring local and international writers such as Vikram Seth, Dick Scott, Tessa Duder, Maurice Gee and Gregory O'Brien.
This festival was the seed event for the Auckland Writers Festival and ran until 1999 when the inaugural Auckland Writers Festival was launched.
Thanks to the efforts of Sue Scott and Time Out Bookstore, Eden Arts went on to run other literary projects such as Poetry on Buses and Poetry in Schools. We have also held a number of author talks and poetry afternoons, including events with Mt Eden writer C K Stead and poet Paula Green.
Eden Artspeak
Eden Artspeak was founded in 1998 by Peter Siddell and Sue Gardiner and traditionally it was a series of talks held in the three weeks leading up to the annual Artists in Eden Day in March. The idea was to provide accessible, entertaining and informative talks by a range or artists representing a range of art practices. Speakers were often artists who participated in Artists in Eden Day, but over the years have also included international speakers such as Cornelia Parker and Sarah Lucas, sound artists such as Phil Dadson, gallerists and art historians.
Originally the talks were located at Soliloquy Gallery above the Mt Eden village wine shop. Eden Artspeak then found its home for many years at the Mt Eden Bowling Club and subsequently at the University of Auckland Faculty of Education Epsom Campus. More recently, we have taken the art talks on the road and peppered them throughout the year, adding in studio visits, sculpture walks, artists-in-residence talks at Karekare House and ad hoc events such as An Unusual Art Talk held in August 2023 at the Mt Eden Village Centre combining art, music and dance.
Siddell Memorial Award
The Peter and Sylvia Siddell Memorial Award was launched by Eden Arts in 2012 in honour of the late Sir Peter and Lady Sylvia Siddell. The Siddells were Mt Eden residents and loyal supporters of the Eden Arts Trust in its foundation years. The award of $1000 was originally presented by daughters Emily and Avril Siddell and the Siddell grandchildren to a young artist of the Board's choice at the Young Artists Awards each year. More recently it has been awarded on a discretionary basis by the Eden Arts Board to individual artists for a specific project or special circumstance.
Stanley Palmer’s Gallipoli 2014
In April 2014, Eden Arts was proud to support senior Mt Eden artist Stanley Palmer in a visit to the Gallipoli Peninsular as part of an Australasian Artist Project. Work made from this visit formed part of a World War I commemorative exhibition entitled Your Friend the Enemy. With the 2015 centenary of the Gallipoli campaign this project was of great national, historical and artistic significance.
Stanley shared his personal stories of Gallipoli, showing family photos and memorabilia, as well as art he has made as a result of this legacy, in a talk organised by Eden Arts at the Mt Eden Village Centre in June 2014.
Stanley Palmer lives and works in Mt Eden and is a long-time generous supporter of Eden Arts. He has a unique personal involvement in the telling of the ANZAC story, as both his father and his uncle fought there and the Palmer family home was the meeting place for the Gallipoli Club during his childhood.
Eden Arts Commemorative 30 Year Book
At the end of 2017 we proudly launched a Commemorative Book to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Eden Arts Trust. Full of anecdotes and images, this is the story of our first 30 years - the events, the people, the early days and the latest initiatives at that point in our story.
Since 2017 our activities have continued to expand – 2023 saw the launch of our regular community music programme, and the brand new Karekare residency mentioned briefly in the book is now well established. Nonetheless the book is still relevant as a delightful record of our story and contains a myriad of background information and detail for anyone interested in learning a little more about our history. The book is a limited edition and is available to purchase from Eden Arts.
Mt Eden History Book
In May 2019 the Epsom & Eden District Historical Society Inc published The History of Mount Eden, a comprehensive record of the places, people and events that have helped to shape the suburb from the earliest pre-history of its distinctive geological formation until the present day. Described by former mayor of Auckland Christine Fletcher as "an important treasure", the book includes chapters on Mount Eden’s local and political governance, religious and educational institutions, its art and culture, sports and community activities, transport, healthcare, industry and businesses and more.
Eden Arts was pleased to support the funding of the arts and culture section of the book, written by John Daly-Peoples, arts critic for the National Business Review and founder of Eden Arts in the late 1980s. John wrote two chapters – Art and Artists, and Architecture – and our donation contributed to the high-quality image plates.
The book's cover images are from a painting by longstanding Artists in Eden artist George Baloghy, representing the passage of time in Mt Eden Village. The painting itself can be seen on the wall of Time Out Bookstore in the village.
Lockdown Music and Zoom Talks
During the long lockdowns Eden Arts found a number of ways to continue our activities.
Zoom Talks – We instigated a series of talks via zoom, hosted by Sue Gardiner with musical input from Cathy Manning. Topics included the Walters Prize exhibition, collections, connections, creative expression, an "I can’t get to the pub" Pub Quiz and much more. These free sessions became instantly popular, with feedback telling us they were an important weekly highlight of people's lockdown calendar.
Piano from a Bubble – we also released a number of easy-listening music tracks online to help keep our audiences entertained and uplifted while in isolation. Mostly these were favourite tunes performed at home by our resident pianist Cathy – you can click on the links below to hear some of the music we shared online during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns.
www.facebook.com/187708807938190/videos/218552436892869
www.facebook.com/187708807938190/videos/575228210569611
www.facebook.com/187708807938190/videos/235877234492193