Mikkelsen Gallery's grand reopening after fire

Wendy Mikklesen is hosting a reopening of the fire-damaged gallery on November 4. Photo / Jim Birchall

Mikkelsen Gallery in Paeroa is back in business, after being damaged in a fire that destroyed the neighbouring Forget Me Not Opportunity Shop on Belmont St in February.

The fire was a part of an annus horribilis for Wendy Mikkelsen who has owned businesses in Paeroa for nearly 20 years. She lost her husband Stephen to cancer before she went through spinal surgery and associated recovery, and a bout of Covid.

Wendy invited the HC Post to visit the reborn Mikkelsen Gallery, a modern, light, contemporary art space filled with paintings, pottery, garden and floral art, sculptures and chandeliers.

Smoke damage from the fire led to the gallery, and related business Advance Insurance Services, to relocate to temporary premises while repairs were completed over the next eight months.

"I had to work out of Mum's garage!" said Jon Mikkelsen, who runs Advance Insurance Services with his brother Jacob, and shares the gallery's space with his mother Wendy.

Three replica sailing ships now sit in pride of place in the gallery after an eventful few months in which they were stolen, along with others, from an adjacent studio at the building's rear, where they were stored during the fire cleanup. The ships were recovered in May.

The ships, one a hand-painted scale model of James Cook's Endeavour, had been on-sold locally for $300.

Wendy Mikklesen is hosting a reopening of the fire-damaged gallery on November 4. Photo / Jim Birchall

"They are just so beautifully made, and the guy who paints them has died. The lady who restored them said they were 'exquisitely painted'," according to Wendy, who could not put a price tag on these "priceless family heirlooms".

Wendy added their recovery had sentimental value.

"It was extra special to get them back, as to us [the family] it kind of has a double meaning as me and my late husband were into boats and ships, and he once said 'insurance kind of started with sailing ships'," she said - a reference to marine insurance being broadly acknowledged as the earliest known form.

A grand reopening to celebrate being back in business is on November 4, an event Wendy has titled Beauty for Ashes, in reference to the gallery's phoenix-like resurrection.

Plenty of art will be on show, and the gallery, which sells on consignment, will have works from many talented local and national artists.

In the fire's aftermath, Wendy singled out the artists for particular praise.

"They have been amazingly supportive through the whole process.

"Starting up the gallery is a big deal for us, I'm still not 100 per cent right after my surgery, but we want to just push on and get on with things. The silver lining here is the gallery is so much better than before [the fire]."

The public is invited to share in Mikkelsen Gallery's reopening Beauty from Ashes on Friday, November 4 at 5pm. Contact Wendy Mikkelsen on 027 657 1360.