Helen Whittaker has played an instrumental role in bringing the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery to life. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Helen Whittaker has played an instrumental role in bringing the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery to life. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Helen Whittaker is a Northland-based recipient of the Queen’s Service Medal for services to art and the community, and it’s a worthy title for a woman who has worked tirelessly to bring the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery to Whangārei.
Whittaker told the Advocate her two passions have always been law and art, and her work on the Hundertwasser project has enabled both to flourish.
“My art teacher always said do law and then you can come back to art later down the track,” she said.
Whittaker worked as a business lawyer for 20 years, operating part of her and her husband’s practice in Dargaville.
“We’ve always had strong connections to the North,” she said, “and the best thing we ever did was coming and settling here.”
In the last five years, Whittaker has been involved in a voluntary project that was “perfect” for her skill set. She and her husband, Clive Jackson, volunteered to coordinate the fundraising for the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery.
Whittaker worked closely with the Hundertwasser foundation in Vienna, ensuring the referendum passed.
From left, Andrew Garrett, Ben Pittman, Helen Whittaker and Barry Trass in 2017 celebrating reaching the fundraising milestone for the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery. Photo / John Stone
She said the best part of the project was seeing it come to life. “It’s been an amazing project to be involved with,” she said.
“To actually see those words on paper transform into a physical building.”
She said she was “absolutely gobsmacked” when she heard the news of her award, “It was a real surprise.”
“I was quite emotional, I was just quite tearful, it was very moving. You just feel very proud that you can do things like this for your community.”
She believes the project has given the city of Whangārei some much-needed energy.
“It’s almost like something that could take 20 years but almost accelerated up here with projects like the Hundertwasser,” she said.
Whittaker is currently involved in yet another Hundertwasser-based project, restoring the home of Friedensreich Hundertwasser to its former glory in order to create a “three-point tour” in Northland, where visitors can be told the “complete story” of one of this country’s most famous residents.
The project is three-quarters of the way finished, and her immediate plans are to see it right to the end.
“I feel like I’m on a bit of a path now and I’m wondering where it’s going,” she laughed.
