First register of 20th century public artworks goes live

The NZ Public Art website includes five artworks by Gisborne artist Graeme Mudge who settled in Tairāwhiti in 1963, He taught at local high schools and also ran very successful painting workshops for The Artists’ Society. He is well recognised locally for a number of public murals created in the late 1980s through to the 2000s, which still adorn prominent sites. These have been documented in a book The Mudge Murals (2022) by Mark Peters. Pictured is Graeme Mudge's 1999 Time of Sails mural.

Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand’s new website publicart.nz was officially launched last week at Parliament at a gathering hosted by The Minister for Art, Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni.

The website includes five public artworks by Gisborne artist Graeme Mudge who settled in Tairāwhiti in 1963.

A New Zealand first, the website provides a single place for New Zealanders to gain knowledge of 20th century public artworks located in towns and cities across Aotearoa, including works that have been hidden, lost, destroyed, or deaccessioned.

At launch the register contains over 380 works which can be searched by information about each of the artworks, the artists, and their locations.

The register will be an invaluable resource for researchers, the arts community, local communities, and tourists as well as local authorities, schools, hospitals, churches, and other public-facing organisations.

Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand (PAHANZ) is a research initiative based at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University Wellington, and was established to find, document, and protect what remains of Aotearoa’s 20th century public art.

“Sadly, many 20th century works have already been destroyed, hidden, or simply lost, while others remain undocumented and at risk due to a lack of public knowledge of their significance and cultural value,” said PAHANZ director Dr Bronwyn Holloway-Smith.

“Through this initiative, we’re hoping to change that.”

Dr Holloway-Smith and co-director Sue Elliott have spent the past six years researching and documenting these artworks with the aim of sharing their research to help promote and protect these works of significance.

“During the 20th century and particularly post World War 2, many of Aotearoa’s most talented artists turned their attention to enriching public space, often hand-in-hand with leading architects.

As a result, some of the largest and most ambitious artworks in the country were placed in publicly accessible sites throughout urban and regional centres,” said Ms Elliott.

Dr Holloway-Smith said: “Many of these works are hiding in plain sight or have fallen victim to privatisation, and/or contemporary fashion trends among interior designers and architects of the 21st century. PAHANZ has been established to ensure that future generations of New Zealanders have knowledge of, and access to these cultural treasures.”

Many household names are among those listed on the website such luminaries as Rita Angus, Tanya Ashken, Jim Allen, John Bevan Ford, Russell Clark, Roy Cowan, Neil Dawson, John Drawbridge, Fred Graham, Pat Hanly, Ralph Hōtere, Molly Macalister, Paratene Matchitt, Colin McCahon, Guy Ngan, E. Mervyn Taylor, Dame Robin White and Cliff Whiting to name a few.

“Our ultimate goal is to build a comprehensive database of Aotearoa’s 20th century public artworks, whether they are still publicly accessible, lost, hidden, or destroyed,” said Dr Holloway-Smith.

“Each of the works on the site at present has been researched, audited, and documented, but this is just the start.

“There are hundreds more that still require this attention, and we plan to continue growing this resource in the future.”