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History of the Ōtātara Arts Centre

December 8, 2014
Linda Bruce ideaschool e lbruce@eit.ac.nz

Linda Bruce
ideaschool
e lbruce@eit.ac.nz

Linda Bruce is a tutor at ideaschool and has been associated with the institute’s arts community since she was a student in the early 1990s. Because of this she is well placed to undertake the research she refers to as the ‘Ōtātara: people & place’ project. It aims to document the first ten years of art practice at what was then Hawke’s Bay Community College (HBCC) which eventually led to EIT’s School of Visual Art and Design, now known as ideaschool.

Linda attributes the development and modus operandi of the Ōtātara Arts Centre in the years 1976 to 1986 to a timely and fortuitous coincidence of ideas, innovative and dedicated people, political will and strong community-oriented philosophies.  Located on the hill above EIT’s Hawke’s Bay campus, the facility grew through much hard work and commitment to become a cluster of buildings where people gathered, created and worked together in ways that fostered personal growth and community pride.  Linda describes it as a spiritual place with its own special energy, where individual life transitions occurred, multiculturalism was fostered and bridges were built connecting many otherwise disparate social groups. Though the buildings no longer exist, a paved area of handmade bricks remains to mark their location. These bricks were fashioned from clay dug from the nearby banks, symbolic remnants of the efforts put into building the place.

Linda’s research project brought together many key people involved in the first decade of the Ōtātara Arts Centre. They represented groups of practising artists, residents of Waiohiki village and members of EIT’s administration and teaching staff.  Amongst them was Dr John Harre, Director of the HBCC, whose education philosophies and commitment to community building are considered pivotal to understanding the way in which the community evolved and functioned over that decade.  Others included Para Matchitt, Jacob Scott, Grey Wild, John Wise, Ray Thorburn and Bill Buxton, all of whom made significant contributions in those early days but are no longer formally associated with EIT.

Linda arranged for these people to gather at EIT for a two-day hui to talk about their experiences as part of an art community considered unique in New Zealand at that time.  With the help of current students in EIT’s Screen Production programme, Linda recorded group discussion with these people, recalling the history and philosophical approaches of Ōtātara and identifying important aspects still relevant to arts education and learning today.  Linda has transcribed these recordings in preparation for a chapter about the Ōtātara Arts Centre to incorporate into the history of EIT currently being written.  Edited video footage will also provide clips for the history e-book.