The Birth of Venus on Harington House is Owen Dippie's final artwork in Tauranga.
The Birth of Venus on Harington House is Owen Dippie's final artwork in Tauranga.
A project to create a huge tourist drawcard for Tauranga has fallen short with only four of the original 15 artworks by Owen Dippie being painted.
The permanent departure of Dippie from Tauranga meant that The Birth of Venus on Harington House will be the last painting in the series "Larger Than Life - Owen Dippie".
And in an interview with the Bay of Plenty Times Dippie's wife Erin has revealed that controversy around the project since it was announced in 2013 had brought down her husband and they had felt "bullied".
"People formed their own opinions and it did not play out very well for Owen and I ... it could have been handled so much better."
Mrs Dippie said a lot of people thought that the intent of the council's public art policy was to stop his works.
The irony was the council's draft arts policy did not affect his work, she said. "The whole thing was misunderstood and misguided ... we have not been treated well."
She also said there was never going to be 15 artworks but when they took the project to the council, they were told to put a number on it. "There was never a contract for 15."
Image 1 of 10: The Ina Te Papatahi was originally painted by Charles Goldie but was brought back to life by Owen Dippie. April 2012.
Anne Pankhurst, from the City Centre Action Group, said it was sad Dippie was leaving the city after the project was touted as helping to rejuvenate the downtown and to create a tourist attraction.
The whole thing was misunderstood and misguided ... we have not been treated well.
Questioned on the original expectations for Larger Than Life and why these had fallen short, she said lots of projects did that for all sorts of reasons.
The fate of Larger Than Life was spelt out in Priority One's monthly newsletter which said The Birth of Venus would be the last in the series because the Dippies were going to spend three months in Los Angeles and New York before moving to Auckland.
Priority One projects manager Annie Hill said Larger Than Life had always been couched in terms of being for "up to" 15 paintings because it was always difficult to get funding.
Owen could have charged a lot more but his passion for Tauranga meant he did them for knock-down prices.
She said the four paintings in the series plus the Goldie were a great gift to the city.
"Owen could have charged a lot more but his passion for Tauranga meant he did them for knock-down prices."
Although she would not disclose how much was paid for The Birth of Venus and The Girl with a Pearl Earring because they were funded privately, the two paintings on the Elizabeth St parking building were funded from parking revenues for $30,000. The Goldie had cost $8000 including materials.
Ms Hill did not close the door to future paintings on downtown buildings but it would not be the Larger Than Life series. "If a project came up that Owen was interested in doing, he would be back in a flash," she said.
Street artist Owen Dippie starts on the Ina Te Papataki on the wall of the Bronco's building in Willow St. Photo/file
