Response to the first Crucible Artist Residency pilot programme was amazing, with a high level of applications.
As a result, a second residency was added, creating an opportunity for four artists - two commencing in 2024 and another two commencing in February 2025.
Find out more about our first artists >>
The Hynds Foundation led by the Hynds Family seeks to support artists to develop their creative practice through a unique residency programme, based in the Gillies MetalTech Foundry, in the Historic Precinct of Ōamaru.
The Crucible is named for a crucial piece of foundry equipment. Metaphorically, it symbolises an environment where individuals, concepts, and experiences come together to create something new and forms the DNA of our residency.
‘The crucible is a vessel in which materials yield to intense heat before being transformed into an object. Metal making has often been described as part science, part magic…it is seldom a lone activity, requiring a team to bring the concept to fruition.
This process reflects the concept of creative endeavour, where ideas and inspiration undergo a transformative process, often through collaboration and intense effort, to become works of art.’
Our vision is to enable opportunity through creativity. Our objectives are for an Artist Residency programme that allows for –
The location is in the heart of the Ōamaru Historic Precinct where traces of the area’s industrious past are everywhere, providing a unique backdrop for creative endeavours. Artists are invited to work in the spacious light-filled Crucible Art Studios. It's a space where Pattern Makers have used traditional wood working skills to meticulously craft patterns, from which moulds would be made, ready to receive molten metal.
There is strong collaboration with the local Gillies Metaltech team for the delivery of the artist residency programme. Originally established on its present site in Ōamaru in 1924, Gillies Metaltech has a well-established reputation for designing and manufacturing quality cast watermain products, and special purpose pumps. Gillies manufactures in both cast iron and ductile iron and is part of the Hynds Group of distribution and manufacturing companies.
Response to the first Crucible Artist Residency pilot programme was amazing, with a high level of applications.
As a result, a second residency was added, creating an opportunity for four artists - two commencing in 2024 and another two commencing in February 2025.
The Hynds Foundation leads the programme, which aligns with its vision of supporting the Arts, Culture and Community as outlined in its funding pillars.
There is strong collaboration with the local Gillies Metaltech team for the delivery of this programme. In the medium term, inclusion of a visitor experience in the Artist Residency programme is important to the foundation’s goals to see the retention and revitalisation of the ancient art of metal casting. We know that visitors will be inspired not only by the fascinating foundry tools and techniques, but also by a programme that supports our artists to create new futures from old ways.
Originally established on its present site in Ōamaru in 1924, Gillies Metaltech has a well-established reputation for designing and manufacturing quality cast watermain products, and special purpose pumps. Gillies manufactures in both cast iron and ductile iron and also has capability in streetware and arts fabrication. It is part of the Hynds Group of distribution and manufacturing companies. Privately owned by the Hynds family, business divisions include concrete, metal and plastic manufacturing, product agency representation, and distribution through a network of over fifty locations throughout New Zealand and Australia. Hynds supplies the civil and rural infrastructure markets with product for the management of water and water-based waste, Hynds employs over 800 people.