Toi Mahara director Janet Bayley (left) and gallery trustee Glen Wiggs with a bust of Peter Field and a picture of Isabel Field, painted by her sister Frances Hodgkins. Photo / David Haxton
Toi Mahara director Janet Bayley (left) and gallery trustee Glen Wiggs with a bust of Peter Field and a picture of Isabel Field, painted by her sister Frances Hodgkins. Photo / David Haxton
After years of talking, planning, and fundraising, the Toi Mahara public gallery in Waikanae officially opens this weekend.
The idea of transforming the former Mahara Gallery into Toi Mahara happened a number of years ago when the Field Collection Trust gifted the Field Collection of 44 artworks, by celebrated expatriate artist Frances Hodgkins and other artists.
It was gifted on the proviso the gallery was upgraded to enable the artworks to be in a temperature-controlled climate and the necessary security in place.
Constructing the two-storey Toi Mahara has cost about $6.5 million, with the funds coming from many channels including various grants, such as a $2.1m grant from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, personal/family donations, fundraising initiatives, Kāpiti Coast District Council and Waikanae Community Board money, and more.
The result is a stunning world-class gallery that will attract local, national and international visitors.
Glass etching is one of many Toi Mahara highlights. Photo / David Haxton
Upstairs is the heritage gallery (Taonga Tuku Iho) where various Hodgkins and other artworks will be on display, a collection storage room (Te Kohinga) and a dedicated artist-in-residence gallery (Ringa Toi), which features a small window looking out to Kāpiti Island. The three rooms have a set temperature of between 20 to 22 degrees and humidity of 50 to 55 per cent.
The jewels in the gallery crown are the Hodgkins artworks, of which there are 24 in total.
“It’s the fourth-largest public collection of Frances Hodgkins artworks but the most accessible because our curator Vicki Robson is here and people can make an appointment to view a certain artwork,” Toi Mahara director Janet Bayley said.
The first exhibition in the heritage room won’t specifically focus on the Field Collection.
“We’ll be painting a picture of the first century of families, stories and communities that contributed to the settlement of Kāpiti. We’re trying to balance perhaps the perception of this 19th-century elite art collection with something of a broader interest.
Downstairs is the large Coastlands Gallery (Te Manawa Toi) where various exhibitions will be held, a multi-purpose community space (Wai Puna Toi), reception, retail area, loading bay, and toilets.
The first exhibition in the Coastlands Gallery is about 52 artworks from the Mahara Arts Review area, and the community space features works by Paekākāriki School children.
Toi Mahara director with a painting by Gillian Cronin called A Place To Sleep, which is one of about 52 artworks in the opening exhibition of the Coastlands Gallery. Photo / David Haxton
There is a lift between both levels and a flight of stairs where the walls feature rimu panels recycled from the former gallery.
Bayley was “thrilled” Toi Mahara had become a reality.
“Finally we have got professional facilities, we’re able to expand our staff, we’ve rebranded and have a closer partnership with iwi, and there’s lots of other aspects of Mahara itself which has been redeveloped through this process. It’s not just a physical building - it’s a reconsideration of its future.”
To celebrate Toi Mahara’s grand opening, a festival of events takes place in Mahara Place, the shopping precinct outside the gallery, on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.
A formal blessing of the new gallery takes place on Saturday at 11am before officially opening to the public from 12.30pm.
