1934-1937 The First Years: Ida Carey, Adele Younghusband and Dr. Eugene  Rogers were at the Action Front.  1937 saw the first registered office of the WSA – The Toorak Chambers in Victoria Street, but they consequently shifted three times within the year. Next it was a shift to Adele Younghusband’s office in the Dalton Buildings in Ward Street, then to the Wesley Chambers in Victoria Street and lastly further along Victoria Street to Ida Carey’s Studio in the Railway Buildings, which has been a long time hub for artists over the years. Zena Elliott and many other local artists and musicians have used this as studio space for many years.
1939 – Dr. Eugene T (Tim) Rogers becomes the very first Patron of the WSA after the death of Sir George Wilson
1941 – 150 members
1944 – 106 members – no exhibitions this year because of poor attendance in the last couple of years due in part to the focus being more on the war. The same year the Dillicar Prize was initiated and won by Ida Carey.
1947 – 1970 the Grantham Street Years
1950s President Haswell Paine activities increase, competitions, The Permanent Collection starts
1959 – 1968 The Booth and Chapman award
1960s Growth in activities. Idea emerges for a new gallery
1970 – 1984 The Studio Gallery, corner of Anglesea and Clarence Streets where Valentines is currently situated.
1970 - Formation of Waikato Society School of Art formally at the Studio Gallery
1973 Establishment of a printmaking school by Ruth Davey and Rona Swallow
1974 – Bass Art Award/ ANZAS – Umbrella organisation for Art Societies/ constitutional changes. Search for additional premises
1984 - Victoria Street Premises and Galleries
1989 – Margot Philips passes away bequeathing her estate to the WSA
1998 Artspost – WSA administered their shop and the galleries there until the Hamilton City Council took over the lease of the building in 2006. The WSA still operates from Artspost in Victoria Street as does the WSA School of Art
2000 WSA initiates the national Art Awards –Trust Waikato sponsored by Trust Waikato and Summer Art Award sponsored by the Philip Vela Trust
2009 Waikato Society of Arts Celebrates its 75th Anniversary

Sources: 
WSA publication ‘The First Fifty Years’ by Susan M. Skudder, 1981, John Walker Printer
The Waikato Society of Arts

WSA ART SCHOOL DIRECTORS

• Ida Carey
• Joan Fear
• Chris Gullery
• Frank Forster (painter)
• Geoff Smith
• Chris Gullery
• Gwen Rogers
• Paul van den Bergh (printmaker)
• Margriet Windhausen – painter/sculptor (Farming Family)
• Susan Poff (nee Flyte)
• Ann Kalnins

WSA ART SCHOOL TUTORS

Over the years, there have been countless numbers of great talents teaching a plethora of art classes. These many of the artists who have taught over the years were guests as well as permanent part time tutors:

IDA CAREY ADELE YOUNGHUSBAND GEOFF FAIRBURN IRMA CONROY GEOFF SMITH TRISH SMITH JOAN FEAR NICK BISLEY RUTH DAVEY JENNY GALLAGHER JAN NIGRO PAUL VAN DEN BERGH MARGRIET VAN DEN BERGH (WINDHAUSEN) IRENE DENFORD MRS C. MCKISSACK RONA SWALLOW VYE ZUIDEMA PETER SHAW  JOAN TRAVAGLIAANNE KALNINS JAN KAYWOOD GEOFF RIDDALL ELAINE HENRY PAT SPEEDY ALEX PICHARD ROB GARDINER DIANE BAKER CLUNIE WILSON MARGARET COATES TONY MAYS ALISTAIR NISBET SMITH LORRAINE DE VORMS SUSAN FLYTE (POFF) MARLENE MILVERSTON TATIANA KALNINS ROLY JANEK PHILLIPA BLAIR STAN BOYLE NICK PUKLOWSKI LOIS INGS AGI LEHAR GRAHAM JANE FINCH ED MCAVOY FRANCES VAN DAMMEN SALLY COLMAN PAM FRICKER FRANCIS DE VORMS MONON BRIAN CARMODY BRUCE HILL HEATHER BRAMWELL FAITH THOMAS KEN LULWICH MARION MCGUIRE CAMPBELL SMITH JULIA LILEY HELEN BUIJERS PETER WELLS LOLA BADMAN CAROLINE ROTHWELL ANNIE BAIRD TOM KREISLER TONY LEWIS RICHARD LAWRENCE KERRY BODMAN ALISON HENRY ALISON GREY IVY MA SHUNG TANIA MILLS JEANETTE GILBERT DARON PARTON PAUL JUDD HILARY RAMAGE DAMIEN KURTH KERRY WILLIAMS JAN WETERE LORRAINE PEMBERTON DELYS LODGE MICHAEL SHEPHERD REBECCA HOPE MARDIE LESLIE SANDRA ROGERS REBECCA O’NEILL M. INNES JAMES ORMSBY CARNE STEPHENSON NELL NUTSFORD JACKIE HAZELDEN JENNI DE LUCCA SAM CUNNANE ALEX KALNINS JESSIE VAN DAMMEN JIMMY GALINDO JUNE HOPPER PAM GROVER MIRIAM SAPHIRA JANICE MEADOWS SHIRLEY VAN DER HULST MAXINE MOWBRAY ANNIE FOURIE SUE MOAR RICHARD TREVITHICK JOHN BROOKS BEV TRULOFF BRENDON O’FARRELL ALICE NICHOLSON SARAH CLIFF IAN CALLOWAY BARBARA SWARBRICK PAMELA SLEDON STEPHANIE MCKENCHIE EMILY NICHOLSON GORDON HARRIS DANIEL ORMSBY MARK CURTIS ZENA ELLIOTT GEOFFREY CLARKE

ART AWARDS INITIATED BY THE WAIKATO SOCIETY OF ARTS

1944 – The Dillicar Prize – instigated by James Treloar the president of the WSA at the time. Councillor W.W. Dillicar offered  £10 for the best local painting. The prize was won by none other than Ida Carey.

1957 – Religious Art award sponsored by Waikato Breweries – which became known as The Waikato Society of Arts Art Award and judging took place in 1958, the prize was 100 Guineas and awarded to Jan Nigro for her work ‘The Vision’.  The second year was won by Rachel Miller for her work ‘The Trinity’ which was included in the WSA’s permanent collection. This collection became the start of the Waikato Museum’s Collection as it exists today.

1959 – 1968 - The Booth and Chapman Competition. This was a competition for artists around the perimeter of Hamilton City to enter. Booth and Chapman was a local framers and art supplies merchant store, in Victoria St, Hamilton.
Ted Bracey was the final judge in 1968 after selecting Malcolm Pitkeathly’s assemblage; a painting of an electric jug with a real element and electrical switch attached. The selection, much like the winners of the Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award, caused a stir because it was seen to be a mockery of art. Consequently, the award came to an end with Booth and Chapman revoking their sponsorship.

1974 – The Bass Art Award. Sponsorship from breweries and the tobacco industry were not considered to be politically incorrect at that time. The Bass Art Award was sponsored once again by the Waikato Breweries. The first judge was the director of the Govett Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth, Robert Ballard. The winner of the art award was John Lethbridge with his work ‘Portrait’.

2000 - Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award, initiated by the WSA in 2000
This competition has caused far and away the greatest controversy with its winners. A photograph of a soap dish, lumps of clay and a soundscape are all fodder for the critics. However, the importance of this national art award places the Waikato on the map as far as art pushing the boundaries. This is one of the vital developments of art in the Waikato region that is the fruit of the WSA’s labours at the forefront of art and remaining in touch with international art practice

1934 – 1959

We shall never surrender!

Sir Winston Churchill

The Great War left its morbid fingerprint on the entire world. Foolishly, the lesson of the horrors of war was not learnt, again the world turned to conflict yet again in 1939 – 1945. Here in Hamilton and indeed the world at large, art became one place of refuge where the ability to create from ruins was possible.
Ida Carey and Adele Younghusband were women whose tenacity to foster creativity brought about a new outlet for beauty to flourish. Together with Dr Eugene Rogers, they formed the Waikato Society of Arts in 1934. It is this one act of creativity that enabled the proliferation of the vibrant art community in the Waikato we experience today. They never surrendered their creative spirits to the destruction that surrounded them.

Ida Harriet Carey b. 1891 d.1982

Established the WSA in 1934
Miss Ida Carey was the doyen of Fine Arts in the Waikato region in her time. Her artistic contribution to the Waikato Museum and the region alone was prolific to date. So much so that when she passed away in 1982, hundreds of her works had to be disposed of because there were literally thousands. She was born in Fielding moving to Matamata at the age of ten with her family. Her work was spotted by Horace Moore-Jones in the 1920s and he encouraged her to study in Sydney which she did and met her life-long friend, artist, Frances Ellis. Her largest body of works is the series of Maori women bearing the Kauae moko (facial tattoos). Her research for this took her the length and breadth of Aotearoa. This exhibition is in part a tribute to her work as a pioneering painter in the Waikato, as well as one of the mothers of the Waikato Society of Arts.

Woman with the Red Shawl (Self Portrait)
Oil on canvas 1943

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

Portrait of Ida Carey
Photographic print circa 1981

Gifted by Joan Fear
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Ida Carey School of Art- Original Signage
Circa 1930s

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

My Room, Sydney
Oil on board 1981

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga

Portrait of Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu
Oil on Pinex 1971

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato  

Adele Younghusband b. 1878 d. 1969
(Adela/ Adeline Mary Roche)

Established the WSA in 1934
Adele Younghusband was one of the Waikato’s greatest artists. She was born in Te Awamutu and supposedly (records were burnt in a fire at Elam in 1949) studied art at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in the 1930s. Scott Pothan (Whangarei Art Museum) recently curated a survey show about her life, her works and her peers, spanning Whangarei to the Waikato. Younghusband was instrumental in establishing the WSA but earlier established the Whangarei Arts and Literary Society in 1921.
Her works are represented in Turangawaewae, the seat of the King Movement (Kiingitanga) as well as Te Papa Tongarewa and other major art institutions.

The Poi Dancer
Oil on board 1929

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

The Four Angels Holding the Winds from the Earth
Oil on canvas Date unknown

Purchased with assistance from the Friends of the Waikato Museum
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato  

Abstract Figurative Study
Oil on paper 1939

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

Life Membership Certificate
Enid Claris

To become a Life Member, one needs to have served the Waikato Society of Arts for many years and made significant contributions to the longevity of the Society. Usually, life membership is by invitation by senior members of the Society.

Courtesy of Enid Claris

The First Waikato Society of Art Exhibition
19th – 23rd November 1934

In the Winter Show buildings which were housed in a tin shed in Ward Street.
Barely visible in the foreground are Adele Younghusband and the famous photographer Henry E. Gaze.

WSA Archives
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

Obituary for Dr. Eugene Rogers

Established the WSA in 1934
Along with Ida Carey and Adele Younghusband, Dr. Eugene Rogers and his wife Gwen were instrumental in the formation of the Waikato Society of Arts in 1934.

WSA Archives
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Ray Starr b.1918 d.1998

Life member

Waikato Landscape
Watercolour on paper
1955

Trust Waikato Collection

Geoffrey Fairburn b.1905  d.1999

Life Member and past president of the WSA

Untitled (Landscape)
Watercolour on paper
1940

Flag Day
Watercolour on paper
1990

Untitled
Watercolour on paper
1990

Gifted by the Fairburn Family
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum

Violet Watson b.1906 d.1992

Past member of the WSA and a major exhibitor in the 1960s and 1970s.

Cattle in Sunshine
Oil on board Date Unknown

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Taharoa Farm
Oil on board circa 1950s

Trust Waikato Collection

Margot Philips b. 1902 (Germany) d. 1988 (New Zealand)

Waikato regional artist and long time supporter, member and exhibitor of the WSA.

Waikato Landscape
Oil on board 1961

Floating Island
Oil on board 1966

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

Enid Claris

Enid Claris was on of the longest standing members of the WSA and served for many years at the as the WSA secretary.

Smoker’s nightmare
Ink on paper 1970

Under the Microscope
Ink on paper 1970

Collection of the artist

Heather Lomas

Incised Gourd
Date unknown
Barry Hopkins Collection

Geoffrey Fairburn b.1905 d.1999

Incised Gourd with Lid
1979 
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato 

1960 – 1985

Future shock is the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time.

 Alvin Toffler

Art from the 1930s – the 1980s saw fifty years of history-defining moments. The new arrived before its time and bequeathed art with a vision that was war-torn but tempered with philosophy, literature and convention; a fresher vision with growing wisdom about the past.
Joan Fear, Ruth Davies, Paratene Matchitt, Ray Starr, Geoff Fairburn, Campbell Smith, Ted Bracey, Rob Gardiner and Barry Hopkins were among the bright young things that popped up with their own ideas about art. This new generation was all too aware of life’s hardship after the war and their vision was coloured with a realism that would inspire a coming generation. This part of WSA history was vital in enabling it as a body of dedicated art enthusiasts to become a serious art establishment that could push towards the 21st Century.

Paratene Matchitt
Whanau a Apanui, Ngati Porou

Decorated Pou
Mixed media 1965

While Paratene (known as Para) Matchitt was not officially a member, he was among the peers of Joan Fear, Ray Starr, Heather Lomas, Rob Gardiner, Mary McIntyre and other WSA members who would regularly exhibit together.
Whilst he exhibited throughout the Waikato, his reputation was steadily growing as an artist of note. In this time, he was commissioned to make some of the most important public artworks that exist today in the Waikato. Among these works are the many murals in Hamilton such as the one that remains at Waikato Hospital and also at Sacred Heart Girls College as permanent art fixtures in the school hall along with similar pou.
His famous joint work with Cliff Whiting inside Kimiora at Turangawaewae Marae is still a feast for the eyes to this day.

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Frances Ellis b.1900 d.1971

In the Garden
Oil on canvas circa 1950

This work was among one of the very first works that were purchased by the WSA for their permanent collection.
Frances Dolina Ellis was a very active member of the art community and was a very close friend of Ida Carey. They studied together in Australia under tutelage of the Australian artist, Anthony D’Attillo Rubbo.

The permanent collection soon grew under the advice of one of the WSA forebears, Dr E. Rogers. It was his belief that the WSA purchased works from New Zealand artists before purchasing works from the international scene. The collection was held in the Grantham Street Gallery between 1947 – 1970 which was built on land gifted by Mrs. A. Bell.

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Gay Fraundorfer

Portrait of Barry Hopkins (Waikato Farmer)
Oil on canvas 1991

Life member

Gay Fraundorfer is one of the longstanding members of the WSA. Fraundorfer captured her subject well. She depicts Barry as a farmer, which he is by trade, in the same stroke, she also captures the distinguished character of Mr Hopkins; who, in his spare time, curated and hung many of the WSA exhibitions in the 1980s and 1990s. A number of works in his art collection were purchased from WSA exhibitions. 
Barry, along with Graeme Henry, was instrumental in the formation of the art awards becoming established in the Waikato. The first of these awards was the Summer Contemporary Art Award in 1999; which later became the Summer Printmaking and Painting Award. Contemporary art was not so well received and thus the ‘Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award’ was born. The inaugural award was held in 1999 and remained under direction of the WSA and opened here at the Waikato Museum. These awards are among the key art milestones of the WSA to date.
This particular portrait of Barry Hopkins was part of an exhibition sent the Hamilton’s sister city, Wu Shi in China in 1991. 

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Campbell Smith

Life member
Renowned printmaker based in the Waikato

Lovers over Fairfield
Wood Engraving on Japanese Bizen Paper 1995

Campbell Smith is not only an artist, poet and playwright, but also one of the key ‘movers and shakers’ of the Waikato Society of Arts. He has been an active member of the WSA since the 60s.
In 1972, Campbell Smith held one of the most important roles in the Waikato Art scene, Director of the Waikato Art Museum, after Gordon Brown left the position. This was on the top floor of the City Library which closed about a year later to re-open atop the PSIS building in London Street. It was at this point that the WSA handed over twenty three years of their hard work of storing and maintaining the Society’s collection.

By the mid 1980s, the WSA, Campbell Smith, Rob Gardiner, Ken Gorby and the Hamilton City Council had been collaborating on fundraising toward the establishment of the new city art gallery. Ken Gorby was the very first Director and left shortly after his appointment. In 1987, the Waikato Museum of Art and History was formally opened. Campbell Smith was then employed as the Director of Art for the Museum under the Directorship of Bruce Robinson.

Gifted by the Friends of the Museum
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Rachel Miller

The Trinity
Oil on board 1957

This work by Rachel Miller gained second prize in one of the very first art awards hosted by the WSA in 1957. It was originally titled The Christian Art Competition but was later changed to the Religious Art Competition. Oddly enough, it was sponsored by Waikato Breweries.
This work was purchased by the WSA and later gifted to the City’s art collection in 1972 with the handing over of the Society’s art collection to the city’s new Art Museum.

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Joan Fear

MNZM
Life member
Patron of the WSA

Studies of Emily Rumney
Pastel on Paper 1978

These delightful studies of this infant are of even more interest to the city than one might suspect. This baby was known, at the time, as the ‘WSA baby’. This baby’s mother, Petrina Rumney would take her along to WSA drawing classes tutored by Joan Fear. Now, all grown up, Emily Rumney is not the subject of works, but rather the artist in her own standing. She is currently the feature artist in the Waikato Museum’s Vitrine, a small contemporary art space. These connections of the WSA tell of generations of creativity and the ability of art to transcend age.
Joan Fear is the current Patron of the WSA. Her contribution to art in the Waikato is so prolific that in 2006. She was invested as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to the arts.
Joan Fear’s painting style is active and elegantly  forceful. She captures her subject with swift precision by gesture or tone, whether human or otherwise. Her works are represented in numerous private and public collections.

Private Collection

Ted Bracey b. 1936 d. 2009

October No. 4
PVA on canvas 1964

We remember the recently departed Ted Bracey with great warmth and respect. It is an honour to have the legacy of his works in the collection of the Waikato Museum.
Ted Bracey passed away on February 16th this year and has been remembered by a small show in the foyer of the museum.

1968 Judge for the Booth & Chapman Award and exhibitor with the WSA

Whilst Ted Bracey never officially became a member of the WSA until he returned to the Waikato in 2004, he had a long history of exhibiting with them.
During his time in the Waikato as Lecturer of Art at Hamilton Teachers Training College he was also becoming a noted artist. Because of his stature as an art educator, he was invited to judge the 1968 Booth & Chapman Art Award (an award hosted by the WSA since 1958 and sponsored by Booth & Chapman – local artist supplies store and framers).
Bracey’s controversial selection of the winning work by Malcolm Pitkeathly caused an uproar among members of public as well as the WSA.  The winning work was a painting-assemblage entitled Water- The Element, where the artist painted an electric jug and attached to it an actual switch and element.
That proved too much for Booth & Chapman who consequently withdrew their sponsorship making that the last of that award.

In 1972 Bracey and his wife Nancy took their family to Christchurch where Ted was to assume the role of painting lecturer at Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. He remained there for many years eventually becoming the Head of School until his retirement around 2003.

Ted Bracey leaves behind a wealth of artists who studied under his guidance and indeed made New Zealand’s art history as a prolific art educationalist of note.

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Rob Gardiner

Untitled (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas

Life member
Past president of the WSA and major proponent for the arts in the Waikato

The Chartwell Collection, now synonymous with all the superstars of New Zealand Contemporary art such as Michael Parekowhai, Darryn George, Bill Hammond, Ricky Swallow, Ani O’Neill, Judy Darragh and many more. What many people are unaware of are the origins of this collection.
While Rob and Evelyn Gardiner lived in Hamilton, they were key members of the WSA divesting much of their energy into the growth of the arts in the Waikato. Rob Gardiner was instrumental in forming the Chartwell Trust in 1974 that was dedicated to the collection of contemporary artists’ works. These works were at the forefront of New Zealand and Australian Contemporary Art Practice. The collection, once held here at the Waikato Museum, was moved to Auckland Art Gallery in 1997.
Rob Gardiner is also an accomplished artist unbeknownst to many. This particular work is a poignant reminder of his painting practice and that his ability to make well-informed decisions about collectability of art is sharply honed.

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Gudde Moller

Squares and Stripes
Weaving rya technique, 100% wool on linen warp 1985

Life member

Gudde Moller is still resident in the Waikato and was one of the first weavers to participate in art exhibitions during the 1970s. Danish born, Moller was one of a small group of WSA weavers that included Ans Lomans, Vye Zuidema and Billie Purcell.
The changing face of art reconsidered craft as mere functional applied arts. Pottery and weaving were also introduced as valid art forms. The Waikato Society of Potters was considered part of the Waikato Society of Arts which consequently formed the new group Waiclay which holds successful award exhibitions biennially.
Now retired, Moller is still weaving. Her work in the 1970s was published in many prominent art and craft magazines. She was the recipient of the Robyn Hogg Colour Award as recently as 2004, for her weaving, Moods of the Sea in the Creative Fibre National Exhibition.

Collection of the Artist

Paratene Matchitt Whanau a Apanui, Ngati Porou

Exhibitor with the WSA in the late 1960s and early 1970s

Design for Exhibition Poster
Lithographic Print 1973

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Elaine Henry

Life member

Year of Woman’s Suffrage
Bronze sculpture installation 1993

Trust Waikato Collection

Paul van den Bergh

Paul and his wife Margriet Windhausen (sculptor of the Waikato Farming Family Sculpture in the North End of Victoria Street) were WSA members in the early 80s

Clown
Etching 1980

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Aubrey de Lisle b.1919 d. 2004

Life member – joined the WSA in 1938

Civic Square Hamilton
Watercolour on paper circa 1993

This Was Our Library
Watercolour on paper circa 1993

Old Art Gallery
Watercolour on paper, 1981

The WSA and the Hamilton Art Gallery Were Here
Watercolour on paper, 1989

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

EPHEMERA

Adele Younghusband
Ephemera: Letter and envelope to Joan Fear from Adele Younghusband
1963

Gifted by Joan Fear
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Frances Dolina Ellis b.1900 d.1971

Early Member of the WSA

In the Garden
Oil on canvas  circa1950s

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Mary de Lisle

Member of the WSA since 1938

The Four Seasons
Etching, date unknown

Barry Hopkins Collection

Gay Fraundorfer

Member of the WSA since 1967

Portrait of Barry Hopkins, (Waikato Farmer)
Oil on canvas 1987

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Douglas Bright b.1913 d. 1983

Past member of the WSA

View of Hayes Paddock, State Houses
Watercolour on paper date unknown

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Jean Fairburn

Spring Plum Tree
Oil on board, date unknown

Jean Fairburn was married to the late Geoff Fairburn who was a vital member of the WSA and a life member. She was a regular exhibitor with the WSA. She currently resides in Dunedin.

Gifted by the Fairburn Estate
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Campbell Smith

Life member
Past president

Gossips
Wood engraving on Japanese Bizen paper 1967

Gifted by The Friends of the Waikato Museum
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Miriam Saphira

WSA member since the 1980s

Spurred On
Bronze sculpture 2001

Collection of the artist

Ted Bracey b.1932 d. 2009

WSA member since 2003
Past judge for Booth & Chapman Art Award hosted by the WSA

North Island System I
Acrylic on board circa 1968

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Rona Swallow

Past member of the WSA
Helped establish the Left Bank Arts Festival in the early 70s

On Each Volcanic Cone Once Stood a Maori Pa
Embossed linocut triptych 1989

Kent Passage – Bay of Islands 2/20
Embossed linocut 1974

Courtesy of Lynne Robinson

Joan Fear

Portrait of Jean Fairburn
Pastel on paper Date unknown

MNZM
Life member
Patron of the WSA

Collection of the artist

Robin Cuff

Life member
Past president

Chair
Ash wood 2008

Collection of the artist

Joan Fear

MNZM
Life member
Patron of the WSA

Kakariki
Oil on canvas 2008

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Ruth Davey

Printmaking tutor
Life member of the WSA
Early proponent for printmaking in the Waikato

Brother Exiled From Brother and Whanau
Woodcut 1985

Gifted by the Friends of the Waikato Museum
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o WaikatO

Joan Fear

MNZM
Life member
Patron of the WSA

Ruru
Oil on canvas 2008

Barry Hopkins Collection

Frankie De Vorms

Past member of the WSA

Red and Yellow Still Life
Coloured woodcut 1988

Private Collection

Rob Gardiner

Life member
Past president

Dogs
Watercolour and pencil on paper 1998

Private Collection 

Mary McIntyre

Past member of the WSA

Collage No.2
Mixed media on paper 1981

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato – Gifted by the Chartwell Trust

Heather Lomas

Life member
Responsible for the purchase of a Frances Hodgkins work while in London

Poppies
Pencil on paper 1979

Private Collection

1986 – 2009

 I like to see life with it’s teeth out

 Janet Frame

The section takes a snapshot of art that exposes everything, utilises everything and depicts anything; from colonialism to agriculture to the simplicity of a bowl of fruit. The WSA as it is today represents a celebration of life in multimedia and Technicolor. The new wave of art continues to be generated internationally as well as here in the Waikato. The self-consciousness of art gives way to a certain confidence and regionalism that comes with a newfound maturity.

Janice Meadows

Member of the WSA since 1994
Printmaking Tutor

Equilibrium
Lino cut 2008

Enigma
Lino Cut 2008

Courtesy of the artist

Delys Lodge

Member of the WSA since the early 1980s

Kanuka at Dusk
Acrylic on canvas 2008

Courtesy of the artist

Garry Moore

Member of the WSA since 1995
Painting tutor

Pink Cathedral
Oil on canvas 2001

Hamilton Observed
Oil on canvas 2002

Courtesy of the artist

Paul Judd

Member of the WSA in the 1990s assisting with exhibition installations

Matter
Acrylic and graphite on board 2007

Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Gaye Jurisich

Member of the WSA since 1994

Choker
Mixed media assemblage 2006

Gifted by the Friends of the Waikato Museum
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Joan Travaglia

Member of the WSA since 1986
Printmaking Tutor

Whangamarino Wetlands II  2/4
Woodcut 2006

Courtesy of the artist

Lisa Ormsby

Member of the WSA since 2002

Within
Acrylic on board 2006

Gift of the Friends of the Waikato Museum 
Collection of the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Sue Roots

Member of the WSA since 2002

Everything Ventured, Everything Gained
Drypoint 2008

Courtesy of the artist

Jane Finch

Member of the WSA since 1980s
Painting tutor

Field Workshop
Acrylic on board 1999

Courtesy of the artist

Maree Glass

Member of the WSA since mid 1980s

Dark II
Mixed media 2008

Courtesy of the artist

Kate Hill

Member of the WSA since the early 1980s

Breaking Out
Acrylic and cotton thread on canvas 2006

Courtesy of the artist

Gillian Bigham

Member of the WSA since 1994

Pushing the Barrier
Oil on canvas 2007

Courtesy of the artist

Ann Kalnins

Member since the 1980s
Director of the WSA School of Art

WSA Exterior
Digital print 2001

Courtesy of the artist

Tatiana Kalnins

Member of the WSA since 1994
Past WSA School of Art tutor

Still Life – Apples
Watercolour on paper 2001

Private Collection

Jan Kaywood

Member of the WSA 1979

Women’s Work II
Oil and embroidery thread on canvas 2007

Courtesy of the artist

Agi Lehar-Graham

Member of the WSA since the mid 1980s

White Rhino at Hamilton Zoo
Watercolour stick on paper 2007

Courtesy of the artist

Rosemary Mercer

Member of the WSA since 1998
Richard Mercer 1928 - 1996, Rosemary’s late husband was a very active supporter of the WSA

Passing Storm
Watercolour on paper 2008

Courtesy of the artist

Janet Knighton

Member of the WSA since 2004

Fairfield Series #1
Mixed media monotype 2007

Courtesy of the artist

Elsa Lye

Member of the WSA since 1998

Untitled (Westcoast Seascape)
DVD 2008

Collection of the artist

Frances van Dammen

Life Member

Fescue
Acrylic and resin on board 2008

Collection of the artist

Acknowledgements:Nga Mihi Atu:

The Waikato Museum is grateful for the generosity extended by the WSA Patron,  Joan Fear for her hours of consultancy and breadth of WSA knowledge.
Also many thanks go to Brenda Sayers and Martha Simms (Current WSA President) and the contribution of the artists for the loan of their works. Thank you to the interviewees for sharing their stories also.
Many thanks to Cathy Springett for the loan of her archival photographs.

THE WAIKATO SOCIETY OF ARTS

Patron: Joan Fear
Hon. Solicitor: Warren Scotter
Auditor: Grant Mackintosh
President: Martha Simms
Secretary: Eriko Hulse
Treasurer: Maiquing Zhou
Committee: Carril Karr
Committee: Barry Smith
Committee: Alex McPherson
Committee: Paula Spiers
Director of WSA Art School: Ann Kalnins