REBECCA STEVENSON
He's keen to don a top hat and tails and will soon beat the feet around Napier's Art Deco quarter for a guided walk tour.
Stuart Nash is taking over as executive director of the body in charge of all things Art Deco in Napier, the Art Deco Trust.
Mr Nash
will replace long-serving Robert McGregor, who moves into a heritage consultant role. He has been involved with the trust since it was formed in 1985 and has stepped down to enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle.
Mr Nash, who returned to Napier last year after living in Auckland, has already been active in the city's political scene, unsuccessfully vying for the Labour Party's Napier seat candidacy. The father of two is the great-grandson of Sir Walter Nash, a Labour Prime Minister.
Mr Nash had also been involved in a heritage debate, leading a group of Napier Hill residents in a fight against an intensive apartment development.
But Mr Nash said he had now ditched politics to promote the style made famous at the 1931 Paris Exposition of Decorative Arts.
It was about Napier, not about him.
``It's pretty cool actually,' he said. ``I love Napier.'
Mr Nash, a former director of strategic development at Auckland University of Technology, said his new job was a combination of love and passion with business know-how. And the 40-year-old had some ambitions for the trust. He wanted to raise the organisation's profile, home and away. Many people did not realise how many facets there were to the trust's work, he said.
``It's not just Art Deco Weekend,' Mr Nash said.
He saw branding as a major issue for the trust. The trust must increase awareness of its own brand, alongside the work it did.
``I am keen to drum up more support for the trust itself,' he said.
``People won't give support to something if they don't know all about what they do.'
