New Zealand’s biggest art initiative takes off
From imaginary worlds filled with talking dinosaurs, aliens and fairies to some fresh twists on well-known Earth destinations - it seems the creativity of Kiwi kids knows no bounds.
This month we put the call out to children across the country to draw a picture of where in the universe they would like to take a train to, real or imagined, if the City Rail Link tunnels were magical and could take them anywhere.
The drawings will be superimposed onto ceramic tiles that will decorate walls of the future Aotea Station in the middle of Auckland City – which will be the busiest train station in New Zealand when it opens. Tens of thousands of people will walk past the children’s art wall every day on their way to work, or home.
So far, over 4000 creative Kiwi kids from Cape Reinga in the far north all the way to Bluff in Southland have sent in their masterpieces, but we’re still looking for more!
Children between ages five and 11 are invited to paint and draw their dream destinations and send them in to Art@CityRailLink.govt.nz to be a part of New Zealand’s largest art initiative.
“Children are fantastic dreamers with great imaginations, and we want them to fire up those skills as artists and give us pictures of where they would like to go by train once our underground railway is built,” says CRL Chief Executive Dr Sean Sweeney.
“Their journeys could be anywhere – taking the train down the road from home to the local diary or heading off into outer space or anywhere they like in between.”
Dr Sweeney says it is easy for children to show off their artistic skills:
They can use paints, crayons, pencils or pastels
Their artwork needs to be square shaped as it will be printed onto 10cm x 10cm tiles to be built into the station.
Artwork can either be scanned or photographed and sent by email to Art@CityRailLink.govt.nz
Artwork should also include the artist’s name, their age and school they go to
If possible, City Rail Link Ltd would love to receive short videos of tamariki holding up their art and explaining what they have drawn so that it can be shared on CRL’s social media channels and website
The City Rail Link is New Zealand’s first underground railway line. The project will see the creation of twin 3.45km tunnels connecting Britomart and Mt Eden Stations and two brand new stations in between. Aotea is one of two underground stations being built on the line, which is planned to open in 2024.