For ten years, Stone Maka has had this dream

For over ten years, artist Stone Maka has been planning a sculpture inspired by the New Brighton community, where he lives. SCAPE Public Art needs your help to turn Stone's dream into reality.

The Story: Pingao was once one of the important plants stabilising Christchurch's coastal sand dunes. In the late 19th century, as over-grazing degraded the dunes, a well-meaning doctor imported marram grass and lupins. For years, people planted marram. It became the new line of defence against erosion, pushing out native plants. The pingao was all but lost. Now council and community volunteers are working hard to replant natives - spinifex first, then pingao - to protect the dunes and restore ecosystems, bolstering shoreline resilience in the face of sea-level rise and storms driven by climate change.

The Man: Tongan-New Zealand artist Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka has always had to work hard for his art. In Tonga, his father would salvage paper from the linings of cement bags at the village dump so Stone could draw on them. After moving to Auckland, Stone got into Whitecliff School of Art and Design by seeking a meeting with the Principal and demonstrating his drawing skill. Stone has lived and worked in New Brighton for the past 18 years. He was little known in the art world until selected for the Sydney Biennale in 2020, and continues to work modestly from his garage.

The Art: Stone believes that abstraction is fundamental to art of the Pacific. Taking the 'black tapa' of Tongan royalty as a starting point, he has developed techniques to 'paint' using smoke. For ten years, Stone has wanted to create a large-scale sculptural work as a tribute to the New Brighton seaside community. Stone's vision is for a series of monumental abstract forms based on the shape of the pingao seedpod.

The 1st Step: SCAPE Public Art wants to produce a single pingao form for Christchurch residents and visitors to experience this summer. The pingao would be temporarily installed in central Christchurch as part of SCAPE Season 2024, opening on 23 November. SCAPE wants to construct the pingao robustly so that it could become the first part of the full series in a permanent location near the sea. It makes sense to build a strong sculpture from the start, but that does cost more upfront.

Help make this ambitious project a reality by giving what you can. Even if you can only afford $5, you will be making a difference.

About SCAPE Public Art

SCAPE Public Art is a charity based in Christchurch that produces new contemporary public art for communities. Over the past 26 years, SCAPE has brought together art and industry to deliver complex projects. In addition to 17 permanent legacy public artworks, SCAPE has supported more than 250 contemporary artists to produce artworks for temporary display in public spaces.

SCAPE has three intertwined work streams:

• Producing artworks as a legacy to the community that hosts them. In 2024 to date, SCAPE Public Art has successfully completed three legacy artworks in New Brighton (Jon Jeet, He Toki Maitai), central Christchurch (Kazu Nakagawa, Ka Mua Ka Muri), and Rolleston (Areta WIlkinson, Toro Atua), with a fourth work (Seung Yul Oh, Conduct Cumulus) due to open in November at Hillmorton Hospital.
• Producing a festival of temporary artworks, called the SCAPE Public Art Season. Season 2024 is curated by Tyson Campbell (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Pākehā), which will be 12 weeks from 23 November 2024 to 15 February 2025, and will feature New Zealand artists. The artworks will be installed within easy walking distance of each other in open space in the central city. 
• Delivering an inspiring programme of education and community engagement. SCAPE's part-time educator delivers free art workshops for children, young people and community groups. SCAPE's Inside Out Competition gives school students the chance to get their art exhibited in public space.