And sales made while ‘Calling Home’ is in situ at Arrowtown’s Lakes District Museum will help top up the museum coffers.
Now residing in Christchurch, Mitchell — who grew up in Glenorchy — says when she was invited to show at the museum, she was offered the chance to hold an exhibition opening.
"I thought I needed to pay that forward," she says.
So Mitchell contacted local Alison Beaumont, to ask her about which trust she could support, "not realising she was with the Bruce Grant Youth Trust and that it was the 30th anniversary [of Grant’s death], so that was perfect".
Mitchell went to school with Grant, though he was a few years older.
"He was someone I always admired for his adventurous spirit," she says.
An Olympic downhill skier, mountaineer and adventurer, Grant died, aged 31, on August 13, 1995, while descending K2, having just become the first Kiwi to summit the world’s second-highest mountain without oxygen.
Mitchell says all profits from tonight’s opening will go to the trust, which has raised about $500,000 over the years to support local youth in their arts, sporting and cultural pursuits.
That includes the $20 entry donation — though top-ups are welcome — and proceeds from a silent auction, which has been supported by a raft of local businesses.
She’s also putting up one of her paintings of Coronet Peak.
The majority of the 27 pieces she’s painted specifically for this exhibition are in her trademark cubist style, with her larger pieces a "very loose" impressionist style.
All of the works, which she’s spent the past two months creating, depict "places that mean something to me growing up here", including the museum itself and the TSS Earnslaw.
The smaller pieces feature sharp edges "informed by the glacier landscape".
"Growing up in the mountains, I often felt boxed in ... wondering what was on the other side.
"For me, they weren’t gentle spaces.
"But of course now I’ve travelled and I love to come back, and appreciate it as an adult more than I did as a child."
Following tonight’s opening, 30% of the proceeds from sales will go to the museum as a separate fundraiser, she says.
Having previously been named a New Zealander of the Year Local Hero and receiving a civic award, Mitchell says she’s always tried to support the community through her work and encourages others to follow suit.
"Last year I did professional practice mentoring at the university in Christchurch about how to be part of the community as an artist.
"I’ve always believed in pulling my community into whatever I’m doing."
‘Calling Home’ opens at 6pm tonight and runs till October 12 — anyone wanting to add their support can visit shorturl.fm/B0rHR
