Welcome to Vincents

entrance to Vincents Art Workshop

Vincents Art Workshop is a fantastic award-winning art studio in downtown Wellington. Vincents celebrates diversity and welcomes all people – whether you have done a lot of art, or none at all. And it’s free!

We offer…

A warm welcome.
Art materials, equipment, expertise and inspiration.
A place to learn new skills and explore your creative side.
A safe environment to work in.
Friendly, helpful tutors who are skilled artists.
Opportunities for artists to exhibit their work.
A chance to work on community art projects.
A day just for women (Thursdays).

We are located at Willis St Village, 5 / 148 Willis St.

Vincents Opening Policy at Level 2

Vincents Art Workshop will be operating at Level 2 from Monday 1st March for registered and booked artists.

We will not be registering any new artists during this time.

The Main Studio will be open for up to 10 artists for two sessions per day.

Artists will be able to book in for one session per day by phoning Steph between 9am – 3pm Monday – Friday or when they are in the studio. Artists will need to give a day’s notice to book in or cancel attending a session.

Thursday morning will be a staff only time so the weekly opening hours will be:

Monday 10:30am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 4:30pm

Tuesday 10:30am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 4:30pm

Wednesday 10:30am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 4:30pm

Thursday Women only 1:00pm – 3:30pm

Friday 10:30am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 4:30pm

Saturday 10:30am – 1:30pm

Artists attending Vincents will need to observe social distancing including being spaced 2 meters apart while waiting outside the studio. Artists will have an allocated area to sit and work in during the session to maintain at least a 1 metre distance between artists.

There will be a limited range of art materials available including drawing materials, paper, paints, brushes, pastels, printmaking and collage, which will be issued by staff at an ‘Art Bar’.

Artists will be given a box to store the art materials in, which will they will then store at Vincents for the duration of Level 2 and then returned.

There will be no access to the kitchen, so artists will need to bring their own drink bottle and personal snacks. We will not be able to have shared food.

The Pottery Studio and the Tool Workshop will be closed at Level 2.

Sewing machines and fabrics will not be available for use.

Access to the toilets will be one person at a time.

There will be no regular Tuesday Workshops, Eating Meetings, Life Drawing or gallery openings during Level 2.

Artists will need to tidy and clean their own workspace 15 minutes before the end of the session.

Disinfectant and gloves will be supplied to wipe down tables and chair handles.

During the break between sessions staff will check that cleaning has been done thoroughly. Staff will also regularly clean door handles, handrails, taps, sinks etc.

This policy will be reviewed regularly during Level 2

Vincents will be closed:

Monday 8th March - Friday 12th March for Semester Break

Saturday 13th March for Planning Day (all Vincents stakeholders welcome)

Friday 2nd April - Monday 5th April for Easter weekend

Monday 26th April for Anzac Day observed

New Artist Orientations

Fridays 10:30am

You will need to attend a New Artist Orientation before you can use the studio, attend a Tuesday Workshop or use the Clay Room.

The orientation will take about 15 minutes and will introduce new artists to the kaupapa of Vincents including values, behavioural guidelines and expectations.

This will also include a general tour of the studio and a time to complete registration forms and art plans.

We will be taking bookings for up to 10 people each week.

Orientations can be arranged outside of these times for people referred from other organisations, those attending with support workers and those wanting to attend on Women’s Day.

If you want to use the Clay Room you will also need to book in to attend a Clay Room Induction (see below).

Clay Room

Vincents Clay Room Inductions

You will need to book in to attend a Clay Room Induction before you use the Clay Room.

Due to the huge increase in popularity of the Vincents Clay Room, we are now offering weekly induction sessions for those wanting to use our clay room for the first time. You may book in for a session once you have already attended one of our weekly New Artist Orientations.

These sessions will involve a Health and Safety induction, an overview of how to create ceramic artworks in the room and a demonstration of basic handbuilding techniques including pinch pots and joining methods.

There will be a limit of 8 people per session so you will need to book by calling us on 04 4991030 or talk to staff when you are at Vincents.

The sessions will begin at these times:

Wednesdays 3:00pm

Thursdays (Women only) 11:00am

These will be the only times that you can have an induction to the clay room. You will also need to do this if you want to attend one of our Tuesday Workshops involving clay. The clay room will be closed to other artists from 3:00pm on Wednesdays so we have enough space in the room.

Please be on time for the session or you may miss out. If you are attending the Wednesday session, please arrive by 2:45pm.

Curators of Wellington interview

Curators of Wellington: Vincents Art Workshop with Glen McDonald and Andrew Mitchell

In this episode of a conversation series with the small galleries, creative spaces and artists that make Wellington sing, Suzanne Tamaki visits the dynamic, remarkable art workshop Vincents in the Willis Street Village, which welcomes people from all sectors of society to express themselves. She catches up with director Glen McDonald and senior tutor Andrew Mitchell, introduced to the diverse facilities. Among the artists working, Dan Ross and Beth Mays, whose work is currently being exhibited.

You can go to 'Curators of Wellington' on the Cubadupa website to see more videos. These are being posted by Cubadupa, Artexplore and WellingtonNZ social media channels as they are rolled out. Curators of Wellington is supported by 28 galleries and Wellington City Council and is presented by Cubadupa and Artexplore. It is produced by Mark Amery for the Welllington Independent Arts Trust. Videography by Shyam Patel and Oscar Keys. Music: Aldoc.

Daily Encourager article about Vincents

Here is a link to a recent article about Vincents from Daily Encourager, featuring artist Jack Polly:

https://dailyencourager.co.nz/the-art-of-changing-lives/

Vincents' Artist Group on Facebook

We have created a Facebook group for any Vincents artists to join.

Through the creation of a positive and supportive environment many people have found their involvement in Vincents to be therapeutic. Vincents offers a unique model that uses the creative process to help resolve the internal conflicts a person may be experiencing, enabling the development of self-esteem and individual potential.

During this time of Alert Levels, we offer this page as an extension of Vincents. It can be a way to continue to explore art and creativity and to stay in touch with each other.

Please click on the link below and request to join the group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/218379032576510/

Click here for Online Tutorials

Materials Donations

Vincents Art Workshop relies on donations of art materials and equipment so our artists can continue to explore a wide range of art mediums. Donations of the following are always appreciated:

Artists’ acrylic paints
Artists’ oil paints
Paint brushes
Printing and Screen Printing inks
Good quality paper e.g. watercolour paper
Wool
Tools
Sewing Machines in good working order
Wood (especially sheets of plywood)