The Lakes District Public Arts Trust has pulled in one of the biggest guns to help launch its new 10-year strategy next week.

For the first time, the trust has organised a public lecture, they keynote speaker of which is Urban Art Projects global curatorial director Natasha Smith.

Smith works internationally within the arts industry, specialising in curating and delivering art for public spaces.

According to an online bio, she is skilled in contemporary art, art master planning, creative strategies, artist procurement and support.

The chairwoman of the Board of Outer Space, a Brisbane-based not-for-profit contemporary arts organisation, Smith has 10 years’ industry experience, working with leading international, high profile and emerging curators and artists.

At Te Atamira next Thursday afternoon, she will be discussing what impact public art has, what benefits it can bring, and if it can generate unexpected returns on investment.

She will also examine how artists shape the places we visit and add “elusive qualities” that make them distinctive, engaging and memorable, if cultural tourism’s here to stay, and which public artworks, globally, are leading the way.

Smith’s talk will be followed by the launch of the trust’s new 2027-37 strategy, which is described as a “milestone moment for public art” across the district.

Established by Queenstown’s council in 2000, under former mayor Warren Cooper, the trust has been quietly weaving creativity into the fabric of the district ever since, thanks to the support of council which committed an annual grant and admin support to trustees to help bring public artworks to the district.

As of last year, the trust had overseen the installation of 14 public artworks throughout the district, including Minhal Halabi’s sculpture of William Rees on Marine Pde, Virginia King’s Wakatipu Vessel, in St Omer Park, and Mark Hill’s Welcome o visitor from afar, which greets passengers at Queenstown Airport.

Limited free tickets for next week’s ‘Everyday Encounters: A Ten-year Vision for Public Art in the Lakes District’, which runs from 4.30pm-6.30pm, are available.

tracey.roxburgh@scene.co.nz