Creating the Ultimate Living Environment

Laurence Berry, Whangarei Heads from the Mangroves, 1998, Oil Whangarei Art Museum Collection

Celebrating a history of Whangarei artists
7 – 28 January, 2008

This exhibition focuses on the Whangarei District Council Mission Statement and the inherent implication that you can’t create a living environment WITHOUT creativity! The exhibition focuses on works in the art museum collection by artists who have lived in the Whangarei district over the past century. They are mainly works acquired since the art museum was established in 1995 and the exhibition is designed to coincide with the major national touring exhibition ‘Cursive Line’ which showcases Whangarei Modernist painter Adele Younghusband in its last weeks at WAM before travelling to Auckland, Rotorua and Hamilton in 2008.

The art museum does, of course have many paintings of Whangarei by artists who have visited the district to paint its beauty too, and many have been our most famous artists nationally but this show is designed to acknowledge those who have lived here and contributed significantly to the visual culture of our district.

The exhibition encompasses the early 20th century to the entry of the 21st century and includes painting, drawing, photography, ceramics and woodwork and archive material. The 1920’s were thoroughly vibrant times for culture and creativity, and many of these figures were women; Jane Mander, Adele Younghusband, K.Airini Vane and a newer generation of Thyrza Bindon, Joanne Hardy, Stephanie Sheehan and Ellie Smith in the current crop of art-activists.

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