Once Were Gardeners (2024)

Open studio and artist talk with Ngaroma Riley, 2026 Caselberg Creative Connections resident.

Sunday 19 April, 2-4pm

Venue: 8 Gwyn Street, Broad Bay

Please join us for an open studio with Ngaroma Riley, including an artist's talk at 2.30pm. Ngaroma will discuss her research and show some of the work she has created during her Creative Connections Residency.

Thank you to the Dunedin City Council for their generous contribution to Ngaroma’s residency through the Arts Grants programme.

Refreshments are provided. All welcome.

We look forward to seeing you.

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Ngaroma Riley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, and Pākehā) is a founder of Te Ana o Hine, a wahine-led carving shed based at Te Tuhi in Tāmaki Makaurau, She began her carving journey making Buddhist statues while working in Japan. Since returning to Aotearoa in 2020, she has completed a Certificate in Whakairo at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. In 2022, she built a storehouse for a public installation in Kaitaia, and in 2025, she won the Molly Morpeth Canaday Major Award. She is known for her karetao (hand-carved puppets) and love of chainsaws.

The 3-month long Caselberg Trust Creative Connections residency started in 2012 and is specifically targeted for projects that reach out and make links across a variety of creative media, and professional disciplines, and/or to communities relevant to the planned project. Recent Creative Connections Residents have been Bridget Reweti (2019), Lucy Marinkovich (2021), Sarah Hudson (2022), Alison Isadora (2023), Katie Breckon (2024), and Jess Nicolson (2025).