The Macandrew Bay School Otago Peninsula Art Auction is raising funds for creative programmes.
The latest project supported by the fundraiser was inspired by Te Aka Ōtākou, the harbour cycle and walkway.
Otago Peninsula ceramic artist Zehavit Darlington said walking on the path prompted a creative idea.
"I often walk with my headphones or dreaming at funny hours of the day and I was a little bit upset about the speed of the bikers."
At first Darlington felt she wanted to protest against fast-moving cyclists.
"Then a friend of mine, she was on her bike and she wanted to say g'day and as to say hello, she spread her legs and her arms in a really funny way.
"So it transformed from being upset about the bikers into wanting to document the lovely characters and locals."
Darlington took this idea to the pupils and asked how they imagined themselves on the cycleway and how they would say hello without words.
"We had them walking around the classroom and pretending to be a sculpture and saying hello with their bodies."
This developed into pupils making sculptures of themselves on the cycleway, injecting their own personality into the pieces.
Pupil Griffin Holmes took a different approach for his sculpture.
"I created me in a car. I live just up the road from here so it takes a while to get to Portobello."
Darlington said the latest project had the support of Dunedin School of Art as well as funding from the Dunedin City Council creative communities grant.
Macandrew Bay School principal Nic Brown said the art auction ran every two years and enabled the school to engage artists who worked with pupils on projects in areas such as arts, music and drama.
The project was initiated by former principal Bernadette Newlands, who was passionate about the arts.
The auction features works donated by local artists, from jewellery, ceramics, painting and photography to experiences such as overseas holidays and guided tours.
"The art auction means we can generate funds to bring in someone like Zehavit to work with the children.
"The children can create individual pieces which we can’t do within the funding of our operational grant."
• To bid in the Macandrew Bay School art auction, visit galabid.com/macbay25
Bids close at 9pm on Monday, December 1.
