A long-awaited Whangārei art project is to go ahead, following the approval of a grant from the Provincial Growth Fund.
Photographer Diane Stoppard with the model of the camera obscura sculpture, in front of Whangarei's bascule bridge. Photo: RNZ / Lois Williams
The Camera Obscura plan has been nine years in the making, and had attracted more than $400,000 worth of local support - but it needed another $500,000 to get it over the line.
The project's creators have been told the Ministry of Business, which controls the Provincial Growth fund, has now approved a grant of $459,000.
Whangārei photographer Diane Stoppard, architect Felicity Christian, and artist Trish Clark have designed the Camera Obscura as a giant riverside sculpture.
It will function as a walk-in camera projecting upside-down images of the scenes outside onto its inside walls, through a tiny hole in the exterior.
Ms Stoppard said the three women were elated that their dream was finally being funded. The building of the project is set to start in October.