Living up to our vision of art everywhere every day, Boon is calling out to artists as we announce an exciting new arts festival to hit Kirikiriroa Hamilton. Boon Sculpture Trail is a free and vibrant arts festival that promises to transform Hamilton’s central city into an artscape for all to enjoy from February 3rd to March 31st 2024.
Art is central to the well-being of our community. We create arts events to make our city beautiful and to make our communities visible. This exciting new arts experience will activate public spaces within Hamilton’s central city and will incorporate a mix of 18 new temporary sculptural works that will link in with existing permanent works, murals and art galleries.
The artist call out is now open for both emerging and established artists to be part of this dynamic arts exhibition. Our art Curator Claire Ulenberg would like to see our diverse communities represented in the artworks and is asking artists to think big when submitting their proposals. Artists' work may be multimedia installation, architectural, performance-based or traditional media, they may activate a social space in the urban environment or be light or sound work, or none of the above.
“We want to spark critical thinking, to inspire and stimulate questions from Boon Sculpture Trail visitors when they view the artworks.”
Hamilton City Council’s Community Services Unit Director Rebeca Whitehead supports the new sculpture trail and is eager to see the festival reignite interest in the arts around Hamilton Kirikiriroa.
“The Boon Sculpture Trail is a free event, providing our community a fun and engaging way to experience art in new ways. We’re excited about the opportunity the trail offers our community and visitors and we look forward to seeing the impact this festival will have on the vibrancy and culture of our city.”
The trail will be spread across five public sites and will loop from the Norris Ward Park, down Ward Street, along Victoria Street to Victoria on the River Park and then to the top of Grantham Street. This trail incorporates the Western Rail Cycle trail and connects to the Waikato River and the Te Awa Cycleway, allowing cyclists to enjoy the sculpture trail and resume their bike ride.
Boon Sculpture Trail would not be possible without the support of our funders, sponsors, and patrons including; Hamilton City Council, Brian Perry Charitable Trust, Clive & Dorothy Gilson, Vision Complete Earthworks, Nimbus Media, Longveld, Contruct Ltd, CBD Development Fund, Prolife Foods, The Company You Keep, Alan & Jo Park, Sue Collinge & Margaret Fairhurst, Jill Shaskey, and Catherine & Barry Smith.
For more information about the artist application process and to catch all the festival action, head to boonarts.co.nz/boonsculpturetrail