Room 4 Visit the Suter Art Gallery

Are you impressed? We were when we walked into the gallery and saw these stunning clay sculptures and pieces of pottery by contemporary Maori artists. We were met by Esther Mc Naughton, the Art Educator at the Suter, and she talked about the artworks having human figures in them and the significance of some Maori motifs like the three fingered hand. We made the shapes of the pots with lengths of wool laid on the carpet.

Next we had fun with a bit of drama. We copied the shapes of some of the sculptures and imitated their facial expressions. Check these photos out!

But the highlight of the afternoon was when we went up to a back room off the gallery to make our own clay sculptures. Esther gave us all a lump of clay and step-by-step she showed us how to mould it into a human figure. We made limbs and head, 3 fingered hands, interesting facial expressions, stringy hair (using a tool called an extruder) and made the figures sit with hands on their puku.
It was an awesome afternoon of creative energy and all our work will be fired and returned to school. We can't wait!

Special thanks to Esther and the wonderful parents (and grandparents) that provided transport, struggling with 24 booster seats, and helped out with groups.