Saturday Arts Social - 'The Artist' Talk with Julia Holden

Name: Saturday Arts Social - 'The Artist' Talk with Julia Holden
Start: 2025-09-27T00:30:00+12:00
End: 2025-09-27T02:30:00+12:00
Location: Te Atamira

Schedule

Sat Sep 27 2025 at 12:30 am to 02:30 am

UTC+12:00

Location

Te Atamira | Queenstown, OT

Saturday Arts Social series for our 60+ community | In this talk, participants will discover how place and community have shaped Julia's unique artistic journey from traditional painting to collaborative Performance Painting.
Julia will share stories of how living in post-earthquake Christchurch transformed her approach to art-making, leading her to work directly with people rather than just painting them. Participants will explore how different locations - from Christchurch's rebuilding to making work while on residency at Whanganui and then last year at Dunedin School of Art, where she shaped The Artist and why she is continuing that project here in Queenstown.
The session will reveal how personal circumstances and local communities can become the driving force behind an artist's evolving practice.

About Julia Holden:
Julia Holden is a multidisciplinary artist whose distinctive practice centres on collaborative portraiture and the hidden dimensions of creative work. Through painting, performance, and social engagement, she explores labour, materiality, and the profound connections that emerge when art becomes a shared experience. Her participatory methods were honed during her time in post-earthquake Ōtautahi Christchurch, where creating art in response to crisis and community shaped her collaborative approach.
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Holden's ongoing projects The Artist (2024–ongoing) and I'm Your Fan (2014–present) interrogate the invisible aspects of creative practice, inviting participants to become co-creators rather than passive subjects. Her work merges traditional painting with sculpture, performance, photography and new media, encouraging interaction and exchange rooted in community dialogue. This innovative approach has earned her recognition through several national art awards and exhibitions at prestigious venues including the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, and Sarjeant Gallery.

About Saturday Arts Social:
Saturday Arts Social is a free multi-arts programme and morning tea for our 60+ community every Saturday morning, including concerts, art workshops, dance/movement classes and artist talks.
To find out more, visit https://www.teatamira.nz/events/saturday-arts-social
Saturdays | 10:30am - 12:30pm | FREE

For any enquiries please call 027 1800 2868, or email [email protected].

Thank you to Central Lakes Trust for bringing creativity to our community.