If your dog insists on carrying a stick everywhere it goes, Tauranga’s latest art attraction might be its new favourite stop.

A playful new addition to Tauranga’s creative scene is inviting locals – and their four-legged companions – to stop, stay, and borrow a stick.

Artist Nick Eggleston, a familiar and popular face at Tauranga Historic Village, is behind a pop-up exhibition that blends his well-known canine artwork with an unusual community feature – a dog stick library.

Nick Eggleston has created a dog stick library at Tauranga Historic Village. Photo / Kelly O’Hara

Housed temporarily inside the Fire Station building, just across from The Incubator Creative Hub, the installation is exactly what it sounds like – a place where dogs can “borrow” a stick, enjoy a game, and return it for the next visitor.

The concept originated from The Incubator team, with Eggleston adding his own artistic touch.

“It’s just a board with pegs and a load of sticks hanging on it so people can come along with their dog, play, and then put the stick back,” he said.

“They wanted one of my dog paintings on it, and I thought, ‘why not make a bit more of it and create a whole series to go with it?’”

A dog painting by artist Nick Eggleston. Photo / Kelly O’Hara

The result is a mini exhibition of eight new paintings, each depicting dogs proudly carrying sticks. True to Eggleston’s signature style, some of the dogs feature the tattooed detailing that has made his work instantly recognisable to collectors.

The stick library itself is built to last, constructed from sturdy posts and painted timber. While it sits inside the Fire Station for the duration of the exhibition, it will later be moved onto the village green for ongoing public use.

Originally from Yorkshire, Eggleston has been based in Tauranga since 2006 and is well-known locally not only for his exhibitions but also for his long-standing work as an art tutor.

Artist Nick Eggleston at work on the pottery wheel creating a pirate-themed bottle. Photo / Kelly O’Hara

During the pop-up, visitors can see another side of his practice taking shape in real time. A pottery wheel has been set up in the space, where Eggleston is working on a series of imaginative bottle sculptures inspired by pirates.

“I’ve made bottles with little faces on them for years,” he said. “Then I added tricorn hats so you can pour liquid out, and they started to look like pirates. Now they’ve got eye patches and barnacles – they’ve just evolved.”

The pieces are still in progress, sitting near his wheel as they dry before firing, meaning visitors may catch the creative process mid-flow.

One of Nick Eggleston’s pirate-themed ceramic creations. Photo / Kelly O’Hara

For Marama Mateparae, The Incubator Creative Hub’s project manager, it’s the mix of creativity that makes Eggleston’s work so appealing.

“I love his dogs, but I really enjoy his pottery and his ceramics as well,” she said. “They’re really interesting and fun pieces.”

Mateparae said Eggleston’s work has a way of extending beyond gallery walls and into everyday life, pointing to his popular “green man” clay mask classes, where participants create faces designed to live outdoors and gather moss over time."

The dog stick library created by artist Nick Eggleston. Photo / Kelly O’Hara

“You come around the garden and see these faces popping out of trees or walls,” she said. “They’ve got cobwebs, even spiders – and they just make the space so interesting.

“That’s what I love about Nick’s work. It’s fun, it’s functional, and it brings art into spaces where everyone can enjoy it.”

The exhibition is free to attend and runs in the Fire Station building until April 4, with the space open on selected weekdays from 10am-3pm.

Dogs, of course, are welcome.