Along the same lines – Dan and Serena Wilkinson
Every year, Wellington is engulfed in colour and festivity for a few weeks by the Fringe Festival. The Festival is open-access, encouraging a diverse, adventurous and sometimes experimental range of shows, exhibitions and performances. This year there was a strong TLC presence at the fringe. We caught up with a range of staff, tutors and graduates who were involved.

Amongst those involved this year was Learning Connexion tutor Dan Wilkinson and staff member Serena Wilkinson, who put on a joint exhibition for the Fringe. The work was exhibited at The Southern Cross Bar/Restaurant on Abel Smith Street in central Wellington.

Beginning with a spur-of-the-moment conversation with the marketing manager of the space, the idea to do a show developed into Along the Same Lines, the timing of which conveniently coincided with the Fringe Festival.

Serena, who recently became a first time mum, said “It was awesome to put on a show that came under the Fringe umbrella, and to make the most of being involved in the wider community.” Being a working mum at the same time as putting the show together is a huge source of pride for Serena.

And as well as being a huge accomplishment, the couple “loved having work in the public eye” and were extremely pleased with the good reception and “awesome feedback” they got as a result.

The two artists found that being involved with the Fringe had hidden benefits like the eagerness of local newspapers and radio stations to do articles on the show as part of their wider coverage of the festival. This made the advertising and marketing of the show relatively easy, with the media taking care of a lot of the details.

The work exhibited by both artists was inspired by Wellington’s South coast, where the couple has studio space. This gave them a theme and a good starting point to work from. The result was a successful exhibition which looked polished in the space.

Check it out on our Youtube channel to see the work for yourself!