Gerard Verkaaik

 

Art and wine to lift the mood post-

pandemic

Sophie Trigger

June 17, 2020 • 12:00am

 

Marlborough Sculptor Gerard Verkaaik said the Art and Wine Fair was a "shot in the arm" for artists.

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Gerard Verkaaik, born in 's-Gravenhagen in 1948, as son of Gerard Verkaaik and Roelofje Zoutendijk,  and moved to New Zealand with the whole family

Art and wine to lift the mood post-pandemic 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/marlborough-top-stories/121830754/art-and-wine-to-lift-the-mood-postpandemic

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An art and wine fair re-vamped over lockdown is the post-pandemic “light at theend of the tunnel” for Marlborough artists.

Beginning later this month, 24 artists will display their works over a 12-week period at the Wine Station, located at the Blenheim Railway Station.

Visitors can enjoy the display alongside a wine tasting, and a portion from the sale of artworks will go to half a dozen local charities, kicking off with Hospice Marlborough for the first week.

Blenheim semi-professional sculptor Gerard Verkaaik said the fair would be "a shot in the arm" for Marlborough artists after the setbacks of coronavirus.

Although lockdown could be a productive time creatively, the industry would feel the commercial effects of the economic downturn, he said. "Lockdown is a godsend for artists, because we're pretty much solitary people

that work on their own," he said.

"So I was quite comfortable, I got one major work done which is now at Artofactgallery in Picton.

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"But from a commercial point of view it's a difficult time ... Artists are particularly vulnerable to economic downturn.

"It's not on the forefront of the shopping list to go buy paintings or sculptures."

Verkaaik had been a regular sculptor for 15 years and created pieces from Oamaru

stone. Three or four would feature at the Art and Wine Fair throughout the 12-

week period, he said.

He said the fair would lift the spirits of local artists and encourage Marlburians to

enjoy homegrown talent.

"It will be good to have an outlet for local artists in the CBD in Blenheim, both for

the CBD and the artists here," he said.

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"Longer term, with the library and gallery build, there's a greater opportunity to really provide a platform for local art."

The fair was originally planned for the Marlborough Convention Centre earlier this

month and was to only run for a week.

Since receiving more interest than they expected, director Kirsty Parry said they had decided to extend the fair over 12 weeks.

"We just thought that with everything that happened with Covid, there's obviously

an interest in Marlborough and also such great local talent," she said.

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The fair was also hoped to foster local creativity in economically uncertain times

for the arts.

Gerard Verkaaik worked with Oamaru Stone  and was hoping to feature three or four works in the fair.

The Art and Wine Festival took place from at the Wine Station, at the Blenheim Railway Station.

"In a short time frame this was the easiest way to put something together, to re-format it and breathe life into it again," she said.

"We're hoping this is a good reason for people to come out and see something different all in one venue."

Considering this event would have been impossible a few months ago, the fair was also a celebration of the freedoms of alert level one, the "moving goal post" event organisers had been working towards.