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Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery

 

THE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT

  • The reimagined Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, at Pukenamu Queen’s Park in the centre of Whanganui, is made up of a west facing atrium, acting as a new entrance way, and a carved totara waka walk bridge, which links the original heritage gallery to the new state-of-the-art Te Pātaka o Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa.
  • Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery is now vastly increased in size and capability. With the addition of new gallery spaces, exhibition capacity has doubled, with a similar footprint also added for dedicated collection storage, and the same again for offices, event spaces and a cafe.
  • The 105-year-old heritage listed Sarjeant Gallery, with its distinctive 14- metre-high dome and Oamaru stone exterior, has been earthquake- strengthened and lovingly restored and now accommodates exhibition spaces, a family room, reading room and library.
  • The new wing honours the memory of Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa, for his contribution to leadership in the Manawatū-Whanganui region and is known as Te Pataka o Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa.
  • Te Pataka o Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa, houses a temperature and humidity-controlled storage area for Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery’s nationally significant collection of over 9,000 items, ensuring its protection and accessibility for future generations.
  • The new wing also accommodates exhibition spaces, workshops, a photographic studio, a classroom facility, retail space, café and publicly accessible event spaces and meeting rooms.
  • Design has been led by Warren and Mahoney architects, while the new wing, Te Pātaka o Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa, incorporates visual narratives developed through a co-design process with Te Kāhui Toi o Tūpoho, the artist group appointed by Te Rūnanga o Tūpoho, the collective Hāpu of the Whanganui Iwi who occupy and maintain permanent settlement in the lower reaches of the Whanganui River.
  • A unique element of the co-design process is the overarching concept of kānapanapa, the phenomenon of light from the river environment, embodied in the new architecture. The etched black granite cladding and metal tioata inserts, which glint in the light, along with the carved totara waka bridge, seamlessly connect the heritage building to the new extension Te Pātaka o Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa.

 

FUNDING

  • Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery Redevelopment Project is a partnership between Whanganui District Council, Whanganui Iwi, Central Government, and Supporters and Benefactors, including large and small private donors and Trusts.
  • The funding for this project comes from a combination of sources: Whanganui District Council; Ministry for Culture & Heritage; Significant Projects Fund (DIA); New Zealand Lottery Grants Board; Provincial Growth Fund (MBIE); public and private trusts and a multitude of individual donations from Supporters and Benefactors both large and small.
  • The total estimated cost of the redevelopment project is $70 million.
  • Whanganui District Council is predicted to contribute $17 million.
  • The Central Government has contributed $42.4 million.
  • Nearly $11 million has been donated by community and private trusts and individuals.

 

THE SARJEANT COLLECTION

  • Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery collection has approximately 9000 items spanning 400 years of international and New Zealand art history.
  • Outside of the main centers, the Sarjeant collection is the largest art collection held in a public gallery in New Zealand.
  • Included in the collection are works in a broad range of media from photography, paintings, and works on paper to sculpture, ceramics, glass works and video art, as well as supporting archives.
  • The collection includes paintings by contemporary New Zealand and Māori artists and old masters, including Edith Collier, Colin McCahon, Ralph Hotere, Emily Karaka, Gretchen Albrecht, Charles Frederick Goldie, Gottfried Lindauer.
  • The Sarjeant Gallery was the first in New Zealand to begin collecting photography with the 1925 acquisition of the Denton Collection, which is the largest collection of early pictorialist photography in Australasia. This collection is of international significance, with works by photographers from Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand.
  • Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery holds the largest collection of works and archives by the early New Zealand modernist painter Edith Collier; over 1000 items are held in the Edith Collier Trust Collection.
  • Contemporary collecting is supported by the Tylee Cottage Artist in Residence programme, one of the longest running artist residency programmes in New Zealand, contributing a significant body of work that responds to the Whanganui region and history.
  • Other areas of significance in the collection include large holdings of works by prominent New Zealand photographers such as Anne Noble, Peter Peryer, Ans Westra, Laurence Aberhart, Wayne Barrar, Richard Wotton and Peter Black. Also of note is the Rick Rudd Box Collection of ceramic boxes by New Zealand makers, a series of 17th century Italian drawings, a collection of 1st World War cartoons and posters, as well as large holdings by local artists such as Joan Grehan, Vivian Smith and Norm Hurn.
  • With the recent gift of former gallery director, Gordon Brown’s personal library collection, added to the gallery’s existing library, the gallery has a unique research library and archive located in the stunning original front spaces of the heritage building.
  • The entire collection can be viewed on the Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery’s multi-award-winning digital collection portal Explore the Collection – accessible via sarjeant.org.nz

 

GALLERY HISTORY

  • Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery was founded in 1912 “as a means of inspiration for ourselves and those who come after us” with a bequest of £32,000 from Henry Sarjeant. This represents approximately $70million today (this is based on a calculation of % of GDP).
  • Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, clad in Oamaru stone, was built in 1917-1919 on a site in Pukenamu Queen’s Park overlooking Whanganui and the awa.
  • It is one of New Zealand’s oldest purpose-built galleries.
  • The neoclassical style heritage building, with its distinctive dome, was designed by architect Donald Hosie in the shape of a Greek cross.
  • The building is listed as a Category 1 heritage building by the Historic Places Trust. It also won an award in 2012 for Enduring Design from the New Zealand Institute of Architects.
  • The gallery reconfirmed its significance to the culture and community of Whanganui in 1995 when local Iwi supported the gifting of the name ‘Te Whare o Rehua’ meaning ‘House of Inspiration’.
  • In 1996, the Sarjeant Gallery Trust Board, supported by the Whanganui District Council, undertook an Architectural Design Competition funded by a grant from the Edith Collier Trust. The winning design by Steve McCracken of Warren and Mahoney, was announced in August 1999.