Special art collection ceremony as part of Toi Mahara’s first anniversary

Field Collection and Mahara Gallery trustees with Kāpiti Mayor Janet Holborow after the formal signing of the Deed of Distribution which transferred ownership of the Field Collection to the Mahara Gallery Trust. Participants in the signing are (from left) Simon and Kay Brown (Field Collection trustees), Warren Young (Mahara Gallery trustee), Mayor Janet Holborow, Gordon Shroff (Mahara Gallery Trust), Glen Wiggs (Mahara Gallery trustee), John and Diane Denton (Field Collection trustees). Photo / Andy Snaps

The Field Collection of art works, the majority by New Zealand’s most celebrated expatriate painter Frances Hodgkins, has legally become the property of the Mahara Gallery Trust, operator of Toi Mahara in Waikanae.

As part of a ceremony to mark a year since the official opening of the rebuilt Toi Mahara, trustees of the Field Collection Trust and trustees of Mahara Gallery Trust Board signed a Deed of Distribution, transferring ownership of the collection to the gallery trust.

The signing has been witnessed by Kāpiti Mayor Janet Holborow.

The Deed of Distribution will be permanently displayed in the Heritage Gallery that adjoins Te Kohinga | Collection Store in which the collection is housed.

The 44 works (24 by Frances Hodgkins) represent the largest publicly-owned collection of Frances Hodgkins’ work outside Dunedin, Te Papa and Auckland. They have been housed at Toi Mahara since the gallery was rebuilt last year to create the climate-controlled, museum-standard environment which a collection of national significance requires.

Field Collection trustee Kay Brown says the works were from the private collection of Frances Hodgkins’ nephew, G A H (Peter) Field, and his wife, Dorothy.

“Peter and Dorothy formed the Field Collection Trust to ensure that the works would be kept together and displayed for the benefit of the public, to promote the arts, and to inspire artists of future generations,” she said.

Field Collection trustee Kay Brown signs the Deed of Distribution in the presence of Gallery Trust chairman Gordon Shroff (right), Kāpiti Mayor Janet Holborow (left) and Simon Brown, Field Collection trustee (far left). Photo / Andy Snaps

“The relationship between our Trust and the Mahara Gallery Trust Board was formed in 2000 when Field trustees expressed the wish that Toi Mahara, as the district gallery for Kāpiti, should become the long-term home for the Field Collection.”

“This was to keep the Field Collection in the same community which the Field family had called home and forged deep local roots within. It has taken time but today it is very satisfying for us to transfer ownership to an enduring guardian and for the works to have a permanent home.”

Mahara Gallery Trust chairman Gordon Shroff expressed his board’s appreciation of the gift and the trust the Field Collection trustees had shown.

“We are conscious of the faith the Field Collection Trustees have shown in us and the sense of privilege we feel in becoming the owners and custodians of a collection with such significance not only locally but also to the rest of Aotearoa, New Zealand,” he said.

The Field and Mahara trustees have acknowledged the significant input, support and assistance of the Kāpiti Coast District Council in the rebuild of the gallery and providing the resources to enable the gallery to operate in a professional manner.

As part of the requirements of the deed, selected works from the Field Collection will be regularly displayed. Works will also be accessible for viewing by the public, by arrangement with Toi Mahara staff. The gallery will make works from the collection available on loan to other reputable art institutions to support further scholarship and growing awareness of the collection.