Art Battle is back

If you enjoy art, then save this date. Sunday 25 September is Christchurch’s second Art Battle, a live competitive painting event where 12 artists battle the clock, and each other, to paint a canvas in 20 minutes.

Organiser Janet McDermid saw her first Art Battle in Vancouver in 2017 and “fell in love” with the event and its fundraising potential. “It was so fast paced, and I was so excited, I thought we have to do this,” she explains.

Her advice is to grab your best mates and head along for a wonderful evening of creativity.

“Come watch as artists transform blank canvases into beautiful pieces, and then help vote to determine the winner of the event. You can wander around watching as the artists paint, and bid for your favourite pieces in the silent auction.”

Chosen by attendee voting, four finalists will then have a paint-off, with another vote to decide the winner, says Janet. Tickets available on Humanitix.

Fighting poverty

All proceeds from ticket sales and the auctions will go to the charity Just Peoples.

Just Peoples helps Kiwis join the fight against global poverty, assisting small locally led micro-projects across Asia and Africa. These projects often need only small amounts of funding to change the lives of people living in poverty.

The impact of the last Art Battle for Just Peoples (2018) improved the lives of 2430 people across Bangladesh, Kenya, Cambodia and the Philippines with a range of projects funded, including providing clean water, education, menstrual health, family planning and women’s business skills.

The proceeds from this year’s event will go to putting in a water bore and helping implement agricultural projects on Buyiga Island in Lake Victoria, Uganda.
Accessible only by boat, and with no power, the island is home to local Ugandans, as well as refugees from the Congo, and Rwanda, says Just Peoples’ co-founder Johanna de Burca.