July Update: Hundreds of students and community members have created a public artwork that stretches from the upper Marsden Valley down to the estuary, following the waterway Poorman Valley Stream.

The works were created by artists of all ages, from preschoolers to grandparents. Projects began with explorations into stream ecology, water monitoring and insect identification. Artists then progressed through observational studies and pattern recognition to produce artworks that celebrate the waterway’s inhabitants, ideal stream conditions and offer suggestions of how to care for the awa.

Artworks meander along Poorman Valley Stream - read the full story

Whariki was a community art project for Poorman Valley Stream, where people could participate in workshops to create community artworks, and contribute stories, memories and photos about the stream for a StoryMap and Field Guide.

Whariki invited each participant to weave a blue and green ground out of card. Then using supplied materials (tracing paper, pencils, crayons and pen) to create an image that makes their individual work. Resource books were supplied and participants also researched or created their own impressions. The participants were given packs of cards in exchange for the work they contributed to the public piece, with the proviso that this would be returned at the end of the project.

A number of public events were run, alongside and within other community events and as stand-alone school/public wananga.

Other artists for this work were from all the schools along the waterway this included Birchwood and Nayland Primary Schools, Broadgreen Year 7 and extension art, Nayland College Year 9 art and science class and Nelson Christian Academy Years 3 & 4.

Students from Nayland Primary attended both of the public events and created their own harakeke version complete with a school of colourful laser-cut fish from previous Healthy Stream projects. Coincidentally this links the work at Pūtangitangi / Greenmeadows with the ‘netful’ of fish' art project from 2019 installed on the Nayland Primary fence.

The finished whariki works were hung together and in sequence of location and workshop to create the flowing work about the awa from mountains to sea ~ ki uta ki tai ~ .

Whariki – an artwork showing the diversity of life in and around our stream - was displayed in the Greenmeadows Centre over the summer. Artworks can now be collected by their creators from Greenmeadows.