Art Show with a Difference

By Frank Neill

An Art Show with a difference will be presented at the Pioneer Church from 1 to 5pm on Sunday 5 November.

The show will feature paintings created by members of the Wainuiomata Art Society, who used the the Coast Road Church as their club room.

Their Annual Art Show was one of the special events on the Wainuionata calendar.

In recognition of this the Pioneer Church committee has decided to again host an art show.

This event will take place as part of the Wellington Heritage Festival which runs from 23 October to 5 November and will feature a wide variety of events throughout the Wellington region.

“We will display paintings from local artists but will also display paintings done by the original

artists, many of whom are sadly no longer with us,” says Joyce Lockyer, who launched the initiatve to restore Wainuiomta’s Pioneer Church.

“These paintings have been very kindly loaned by family and friends of the artists.”

Everyone is welcome to the art show and entry is free.

Also the Church will have their famous Devonshire Afternoon Tea on sale.

During the afternoon a Rhododendron tribute will be unveiled for the late Ken Loan.

Mr Loan was the Church’s caretaker before it was closed to the public in the 1950s.

He also wrote the book “Wainuiomata Union Parish: 25th Anniversary”, which was published in 1978.

“We are sure that families of the artists will all attend [the art show] and it will be a mini reunion for them.

“Do come along and enjoy a lovely afternoon,” Joyce says.

The Church committee has managed to contact many of the families of the Wainuiomata Arts

Society’s artists.

However the committee does not have contact details for all the families of former Art Society

members from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

“We would be delighted to hear from any of them if we have not already been in touch,” Joyce says.

People who have any information about former artists can ring Joyce on 022 2326 0235.