Artists' Studios
Engineering, Worcester Boulevard
These studios are open to the public so you can observe the live creation of art.
The five newly fitted out artists’ studios are on the ground floor of the Engineering Extension building, right next to The Arts Centre Shop.
They are occupied by nine artists (bios below):
Studio 1 – Kat Stefanova
Studio 2 – Kay Zhang and Yumi McLean
Studio 3 – Ira Mitchell and Sheelagh McHaffie
Studio 4 – Sharon Johnson and Rachel Huston
Studio 5 – Alex Golding and Jasper Mooney
These studios are open to the public every day from 10am to 4pm. When the artists are in, you are welcome to walk through, interact with them, and watch the creative process in action. What you see will vary – that’s the nature of art.
At this stage one of the artists will have pieces for sale through The Arts Centre Shop. If you’re interested in purchasing something, feel free to ask.
Artist Bios
Studio 1
Kat Stefanova
Kat is a Bulgarian-born artist based in Christchurch, known for vibrant interpretations of the New Zealand landscape. Her paintings “glow” with colour, capturing not just the look of a place but its atmosphere and emotion. With a background in fine art and graphic design, Kat blend’s traditional painting techniques with modern compositions.
Studio 2
Kay Zhang
Kay’s love for design and modelling was sparked by a passion for travel and living in foreign lands. She has toured and lived across the UK, Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and Australasia, each place enriching her perspective. Over the years, she has navigated diverse creative landscapes as an Architectural Technician, Interior Designer, UX/UI Designer, Ceramicist, and Photographer.
Yumi McLean
Studio 3
Ira Mitchell
Ira’s works are contemporary landscapes inspired by the unique colours and rugged forms of Aotearoa. Educated in fine arts and as an art teacher at Canterbury University, Ira has created full time for over 12 years, regularly showing in NZ and internationally. Travel and international art residencies have been part of her learning and career path.
Sheelagh McHaffie
Sheelagh is a figurative artist who specialises in intimate works, using white pastel on black. Her art is emotive, drawing the light and shadow to create drama.
Studio 4
Sharon Johnson
Sharon is an abstract expressionist painter. She deliberately celebrates the lyricism of colour and mark making in her works, and emotion and feeling. Her artworks can be figurative and non-objective, and are suggestive impressions of landscapes, domestic scenes and interior states.
www.instagram.com/artist_sharonjohnson
Rachel Huston
Rachel Huston works predominantly in oil and acrylic on canvas to reflect on the courage of fragile things caught in the web of time. Pastel colours, multiple layers and uneasy rhythms form visual poems inspired by personal experience and convey the joys and anxieties of contemporary life.
Studio 5
Alex Golding
Alex’s work encompasses multiple practices to explore concepts around the human condition. His current work is a continuation from his graduate project, using large scale supports and gestural drawing as a means to showcase ideas.
www.instagram.com/alex.golding
Jasper Mooney
Jasper is a fashion designer specialising in sustainable, slow fashion and costume. His designs are inspired by the shape and form of the human body, the natural world and abstract forms. Jasper is a new designer looking to build a local foundation and sell his work throughout Aotearoa.
Affordable spaces for artists in Ōtautahi
The earthquakes destroyed many artist workspaces in the central city, so even now, there is a dearth of affordable artist studios.
Our studios are currently full. To express interest in leasing one of these studios in future, please email leasing@artscentre.org.nz
Thank you to our funders and supporters
Many individuals and organisations have made the artists' studios possible:
Boost Ōtautahi
The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi
Rātā Foundation
Creative New Zealand
WALK Christchurch
Friends of the Arts Centre
Stout Trust, proudly managed by Perpetual Guardian
New Zealand Charitable Trust (NZCT)
