Of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whatua descent, Christine and Ebony Hayes have established The Kukupa Collective — the northern name for the kereru ¯ or wood pigeon — in the School House Studios.
The family moved from Dargaville, northwest of Auckland, four years ago after Christine’s husband landed a Queenstown contract.
At the time, Ebony had been learning weaving from Christine’s mother.
Christine originally painted out of a nearby Country Lane studio while Ebony hang out with her at weekends doing her weaving — ‘‘with the interest from everybody coming in, we just saw there was an opportunity there for us as well’’.
They’ve also got space to showcase other local and visiting Māori artists’ work.
Their studio’s open to visitors Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am till 3pm.
