ARTS OF THE MAORI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 10

ARTS OF THE MAORI.

LOCATION OF NEW SCHOOL. SITE IN ROTORUA CHOSEN. ADDED INTEREST EXPECTED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.J WELLINGTON. Wednesday. A site in the sanatorium grounds in Rotorua has been chosen as the location of the now Maori Arts and Crafts School, | arrangements to that end having been | made with the Tourist Department, j " On my last visit to Rotorua," said i the Minister of Internal Affairs, and chairman of the Maori Arts and Crafts Board, Hon. R. F. Bollard, To-day; " I had an opportunity of visiting various sites which ha*d been suggested as suitable for the Maori Arts and Crafts School. At a meeting of the board it was agreed the best solution of the site problem would be to utilise a portion of the Government sanatorium grounds. " I am pleased to say arrangements have now been made with the Tourist Department for an area of about ten acres to the north-east of the bath house to be made available as a site for the operations of the board as a ' rnarao ' for public receptions. The area to be used is at present lying waste and as the- erection of buildings and the layout of the grounds will be in conformity with the surroundings, the proposal will have not only the effect of providing the site but will also add to the attractiveness of the sanatorium reserve." Until the new building is erected the operations of the school will be carried tin by the director of the hoard in its present offices, which are in a picturesquely Maori carved building at Ohinemutu, on the shores of Lake Rotorua. The building is not large enough, but during the latter part of last tourist season, when the board commenced its work, the building and the exhibits on show in it were a leading attraction to the many visitors to the thermal regions. When the new school for students has been started in Rotorua added interest will be shown in the fine arts of the Maori Recently a sub-committee of the Maori Arts and Crafts Board, consisting of the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, Minister in charge of the Cook Islands, the Hon. Sir Apirana Ngata, Archdeacon Williams and Mr Page Rowe, paid a visit to the new Te Ante College, which is in course of erection. The object of the visit was to show the appreciation of the board of the fine spirit shown by the trustees of the institution in deciding on Maori art for the interior of some of the halls of the college. Help was promised by the committee in the work ahead of the college trustees,