Sculpture on the Gulf brings art to the landscape of Waiheke island

Chris Moore, Introduced Species, 2022. Photo / Peter Rees

With the biennial Sculpture on the Gulf exhibition kicking off Waiheke’s Matiatia coastal walkway and running through March 2024, we have a chat with Fiona Blanchard, director of Waiheke Community Art Gallery-Te Whare Taonga O Waiheke, who explains how this unique event — a transformative outdoor gallery celebrating its 20th anniversary this year — grew to be a pivotal moment on Aotearoa’s arts calendar and why they hope to foster Waiheke as an ‘art island’ on the global stage.

Art has the ability to act as a conduit for appreciating new concepts and viewpoints as well as bowling us over with the aesthetic experience.

I have a passion for cultural engagement and creating opportunities for audiences to be delighted, challenged, and develop an understanding of something new.

Our vision for Waiheke Community Art Gallery-Te Whare Taonga O Waiheke is to connect people through art to the essence of Waiheke. As the island’s largest membership organisation, the gallery plays a critical role supporting Waiheke’s creative economy and community engagement. We want to leverage our position to further benefit our creative community and to build on Waiheke’s reputation as one of the world’s most desirable islands to visit.

As director of the gallery, alongside our small and lean team, it’s a varied and busy role that sees me working with artists and curators, handling operations and logistics, as well as leading strategy with the board.

Fiona Blanchard, director of Waiheke Community Art Gallery-Te Whare Taonga O Waiheke, has a background in Fine Arts and Art Theory. Her career has spanned the cultural sector, including City of Sydney’s creative team, City Gallery Wellington and Auckland Museum.

Waiheke has a long history as a place of and for creatives.

The first Sculpture on the Gulf outdoor exhibition took place in February 2003 and was based on the exhibition model of Sculpture by the Sea, in Bondi in Sydney. Sculpture on the Gulf was the brainchild of a group of Waiheke islanders with an interest in outdoor sculpture and the desire to do something for the Waiheke community. It was developed in friendly cooperation with David Handley, founder of Sculpture by the Sea. They included Jackie O’Brien (then director of the Waiheke Community Art Gallery) and those known as “the founding benefactors” — Ruth Foreman, Sue Fisher, and John and Jo Gow.

Sculpture on the Gulf is a renowned outdoor sculpture exhibition and has made a unique contribution to the cultural life of Aotearoa. As one of the first large sculpture experiences, it has led the way for the establishment of a proliferation of sculpture walks and exhibitions across the country. The exhibition has provided a platform for artists to develop large-scale, site-responsive, and ambitious projects in a unique setting.

The opportunity to present work outside of a traditional gallery setting to a large and varied audience has invariably benefited a number of artists’ careers. In turn, the exhibition has provided democratic access to contemporary art practice, developing and diversifying cultural appreciation.

The significance of Sculpture on the Gulf is its potential to attract international visitors and recognition for the exhibition and island; it can be a cornerstone of a wider concept of Waiheke as New Zealand’s “island of creativity” — part of a broader international network of islands that showcase the very best of artistic and creative expression.

Over the years many, others have contributed; local individuals and businesses, in particular, have been very generous with their time, goodwill and expertise. Right from the start, the aim of the exhibition on the Matiatia coastal walkway was to be the very best outdoor sculpture exhibition in New Zealand. Works were to be new, not seen anywhere else, “unexpected, daring, and original”, and responding to and complementing the unique and spectacular location.

That first exhibition lasted only two weeks and attracted some 12,000 visitors. It was a nerve-wracking process for all involved; there were major constraints of time and money, and those involved seriously considered abandoning the project. In the end, it turned out to be a triumph. Since then, the exhibition has built in scale and reputation but always with its own challenges of unpredictable weather, and most recently in 2022 delivery mid-pandemic.

Julie Moselen, Continuum Amplas, 2022. Photo / Peter Rees

Between February 24 and March 24, 2024, the Matiatia Coastal Walkway will once again be transformed into an extraordinary outdoor gallery for Sculpture on the Gulf 2024. Only 35 minutes’ ferry ride from Tāmaki Makaurau, the festival takes us into the hearts and minds of some of our most exciting contemporary artists.

The 2024 event will continue the conversation between sculpture and site through multiple significant works as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. For the third consecutive time, it will be generously supported by naming rights partner, Perpetual Guardian. Moving to a fully curated model, our strategic aim is to create a more ambitious, impactful exhibition that will ultimately sit alongside other major exhibitions in the Pacific region such as the Biennale of Sydney, Asia Pacific Triennial and Honolulu Triennial.

We already return over $500,000 annually to local artists and suppliers. While the gallery is the island’s artistic “hub”, we take seriously our role to foster and sustain creativity throughout Waiheke. We have established an Art Map, providing visitors with a comprehensive guide to the island’s network of artists. We also run an Artist in Residence programme and provide exposure to two national awards, including the Walker & Hall prize, which at $10,000 is one of the most significant in New Zealand. Other initiatives include managing a Diploma of Ceramics connected with Otago University and opportunities through our call for proposals and Members Show. Finally, our gallery store showcases Waiheke makers and artists.

Our location as an urban island makes Waiheke an ideal and accessible cultural destination. Our world-class landscape, beaches, vineyards and restaurants already make the island a very desirable place to visit and stay. Augmenting this with the opportunity to experience the best of New Zealand’s creative offerings would take Waiheke to the next level.

However, a small membership gallery can’t do it alone, and the lack of significant public investment in the gallery and creative economy on the island remains the primary challenge. Despite 60,000 visitors annually and a renowned sculpture biennial, our central and local government funding covers less than 10 per cent of operational costs. We are future-focussed on working with the government, Auckland Council, the Waiheke community and our corporate partners to develop realistic and long-term investment in the vision of Waiheke as a cultural destination.

We see the concept of Waiheke becoming recognised internationally as Aotearoa New Zealand’s “Toi Motu”, or Art Island, as being hugely beneficial, not only to Waiheke’s cultural community but more broadly to the cultural and economic development of the island, Auckland and New Zealand. We share many characteristics with other art islands, including Sculpture on the Gulf and our artist-in-residence programme, and want to broaden the experiences Waiheke has to offer. We’ll be working to establish links and exchanges with other renowned art islands and are exploring the possibility of joining the creative island network, which links “art islands” from around the world.

There is no question that the opportunity is there.

Perpetual Guardian Sculpture on the Gulf 2024 runs until March 24, 2024 on Waiheke island’s picturesque Matiatia Coastal Walkway. Participating artists include Ralph Hotere, Chris Booth, Turumeke Harrington, Chevron Hassett and more. Exhibition entry is $20 per person with a shuttle bus from $10 per adult. Free for children under 15. For more information visit sotg.nz and ferry tickets from fullers.co.nz. Learn more and plan your visit at sotg.nz.