Titirangi gallery accumulates awards
Written by
The rebranding of recently reopened Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery (formerly Lopdell House Gallery) has been shortlisted for the Best Design Awards.
Developed by Strategy Design & Advertising, the new branding for the relaunch of Te Uru is a finalist in the Small Brand Identity category in the annual competition run by the Designers Institute of New Zealand. The awards are celebrated at a ceremony held at The Viaduct Events Centre on Friday 9th October.
“Our new name and identity have been a really effective tool for communicating Te Uru’s story and renewed vision,” says Te Uru Director, Andrew Clifford.
“2014 was a year of big changes for Te Uru in the lead-up to re-opening in our new building last November and this new kaupapa has helped establish a new era for our organisation.”
As part of the branding process, Strategy was commissioned by then director, Lesley Smith, and worked with Te Uru’s governance committee as well as Rewi Spraggon, a representative of local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki. Spraggon suggested the name Te Uru as a reference to the west wind, a powerful force that characterises the local landscape.
Spraggon says, “Te Uru is the wind that blows from the west, sharing the messages and vision from the people that live there. It brings change, sets direction and influences the city of Auckland from its perch atop the Great Forest of Tiriwa.”
“Rewi’s input was critical to that design,” says committee Secretary, Robyn Mason. “It’s quite magical that the name Te Uru is now such a natural part of the local vocabulary.”
Te Uru’s new building, developed by a partnership between the Lopdell Trust and Auckland Council, has also garnered considerable acclaim. Designed by Mitchell & Stout Architects, it has won the New Zealand Architecture Awards’ Auckland Architecture Award in the Public Building category and is shortlisted for a national award. The building is also a finalist for the prestigious World Architecture Festival awards, held in Singapore in November.
Te Uru is home to the annual Portage Ceramic Awards, New Zealand’s premier showcase for ceramic arts. Entries for the 2015 event close on 23 August and will be judged by Ingrid Murphy, an Irish ceramic artist whose focus on new media is creating radical new ways to work with clay. The awards will be announced at a special event at Te Uru on Thursday 12 November.
Te Uru presents a diverse programme of contemporary exhibitions, events and activities that include art, craft and design. Te Uru is an institution locally rooted in West Auckland but globally minded. This kaupapa is directly influenced by local iwi, Te Kawerau a Maki, who gifted the gallery its name. As a destination gallery, Te Uru is situated at the entrance to the Waitakere Ranges — Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa, The Great Forest of Tiriwa — and en route to Auckland’s famous west coast beaches.
Te Uru receives core operational funding from the Waitakere Ranges Local Board of Auckland Council.
For more information, contact:
Te Uru 09 817 8087