Just a stone’s throw from the main street of Akaroa is a powerhouse of a building – the Akaroa Art Gallery. A community-run enterprise that in April this year celebrates a milestone achievement.

Fifty years of anything is well worth celebrating, and for the volunteer committee behind the Akaroa Art Gallery, something they should be particularly proud of. Over the years I have had the pleasure of attending exhibition openings and working with committee members to promote exhibitions, and their passion for the gallery, and what they do, has always been contagious. Talking to current committee member Keith Harris, it is hard not to commit to attending every exhibition and event they have coming up. Each and every one offers something different and unique. ‘People come from all around to experience our exhibitions,’ he explains. ‘While the role of the gallery over the last 50 years has changed, the bringing together of like-minded people hasn’t.’

On 11 September 1911, electricity began to illuminate the streets, and provide power to households and businesses in Akaroa. The electricity was generated in a small hydroelectric power station below L’Aube Hill.

The Pelton wheel, generator and a switchboard were housed in a small, square, brick building, with an attractive pavilion roof which flared to broad eaves. A larger addition to the rear of the original powerhouse was built several years later to house a gas engine and workshop. When power from the Lake Coleridge power station reached Akaroa in June 1923, the equipment was sold and the buildings left empty.

In 1970, local Akaroa resident Patricia Bosshard utilised the empty spaces, establishing a gallery and concert venue, hosting musicians, artists and even a film society until 1974 when an incorporated society took over.

The beginnings of the Akaroa Art Gallery we know today.

Twenty years ago, the original powerhouse equipment, with support from power company Orion, was reinstated in the powerhouse, allowing the building to double as a small museum of technology and creative exhibition space for artists and musicians.

Formally known as the Orion Powerhouse Gallery Akaroa, the small community gallery packs a powerful punch in its ability to attract high-profile artists, and even travelling exhibitions, including New Zealand’s most highly regarded landscape paintings in 2019 as part of the Kelliher Exhibition.

‘We are an enthusiastic bunch,’ states Keith. ‘Our GEMS (Great Exhibition Minders) are key to the running of our exhibitions when they are on, and our committee all work together to share the load when it comes to promotion, hanging of posters, curating the artworks and so forth.’

During their exhibition season (October – April), there is a vast array of exhibitions from artists across all mediums, and in winter, jazz and classical music groups can often be found performing. While February and March’s exhibitions – Diamond Harbour’s Alice Lewis and the trio Sue Pearce, Miranda Josef, and Robyn Bardas are certain to draw a crowd, it is the Nancy Tichborne Retrospective in late March/early April that is not to be missed. ‘Nancy and (husband) Brian played a huge role with the gallery,’ explains Keith. ‘They certainly contributed to our success over the last 10 years and it is an honour to be able to celebrate Nancy in this way.’

A renowned watercolourist, Nancy’s works will be familiar to many. As will her passion for creativity, art in all forms and gardening. Having called Akaroa and the Peninsula home for 30 years, Nancy was a regular exhibitor at the gallery before passing away in early 2023. For son Guy, the retrospective is a beautiful way to celebrate the role both his parents had with the gallery, for so long.

‘The exhibition will feature a range of her art,’ he explains. ‘While we will have a handful of originals for sale it will mostly be a retrospective and story of her artistic journey.

‘She is so well known for her flowers but I love that we get to share all this other stuff. The characters she did in the 1960s for fashion design; her work from her time in London; her school portfolio from Otago Girls’ High. As well as illustrations from the cookbooks she did with her sisters and the fly fishing calendars from the New Zealand Calendar Company, which she established with Dad in 1985.’

Working with cousin Janey Thomas on the curation of the pieces for the exhibition, Guy describes the final collection as a story ‘of all of her. A celebration of my mum.’ A beautiful, and fitting way, to showcase the accomplishments of one of New Zealand’s most talented artists.

Running in parallel to the retrospective, the anniversary weekend will also include an exhibition of past exhibition posters and memorabilia and a photographic display of musicians who have played at the gallery.

With the exhibitions spreading across the road from the gallery into the Trinity Hall, it is a weekend that is set to draw a crowd and cement the Akaroa Art Gallery as a destination for another 50 years, at least.

The Nancy Tichborne Retrospective is being held at the Akaroa Art Gallery in the Akaroa Powerhouse building at 1 Rue Pompallier, 10 am – 4 pm, 24 March – 14 April, closed Mondays.

The 50th Anniversary Open Weekend will be held during this time from 6-7 April. Visit akaroaartgallery.co.nz for more.