Methven Heritage Centre

This month’s art exhibition at the Methven Heritage Centre Art Gallery is a joint exhibition by two New Zealand painter, Penelope Otto from Auckland and Kay Hunter of Christchurch.

 The two women both graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1961 with a Diploma of Fine Arts (Hons.) and were students of the well known and respected artist, Russell Clark. Although living at opposite ends of the country, the two women have maintained their friendship over the years. This exhibition shows their two very different contemporary artistic styles.

Otto is an award winning artist who has exhibited regularly over the years, holding ten solo exhibitions and participating in numerous groups shows. Her work is held in many collections and she has undertaken several commissions.

Otto has been an art teacher at the Auckland University of Technology and the Auckland Society of Arts. Her work has appeared in a number of publications and she has also prepared illustrations for magazine, books and posters.

Hunter’s previous exhbition at the Methven Heritage Centre in 2011 covered the last decade of her work. This exhibition, Works on Paper shows some of her most recent pieces.Hunter has had a number of other solo exhibitions over the years in Christchurch, Nelson and Blenheim and in 1998 she was the winner of the Ashburton Trust Art Award. She has  attended a number of workshops with established artists, most recently participating in a working artists’ critique and discussion group at CoCA, with Riduan Tompkins and latterly, Ross Gray.

The exhibition at the Methven Heritage Centre Art Gallery is open daily from 10am -5pm until the 5th of June.

 The Methven Historical Society and Methven Heritage Centre are jointly curating a special ANZAC exhibition to be held over the month of April.

“With the trial and tribulations faced by the Historical Society in the past year, we are very pleased to be back to an important part of our core business, which is presenting Methven’s history to the community,” commented the Society’s President, Kathryn McKendry, referring to the demise of the Society’s Museum which was badly earthquake damaged.

“The exhibition features items from our Collection, wartime film footage, and photos from the private collections of our Service people, some originals and others reproductions,” explained Mrs McKendry. Manager of the Heritage Centre, Jackie Hunter-Letham says that she and her team are delighted to be working with the Historical Society on this exhibition.

“The Methven Heritage Association is very mindful that this building is a memorial to those who have fallen in the Wars. This exhibition is intended as a tribute to them. It is also a wonderful opportunity to remind our community that the Methven Historical Society is still actively acquiring and caring for their Collection even though the Museum itself is no longer open. We hope that this joint exhibition here at the Heritage Centre will be the first of many.”

Local people who might be willing to loan items such as uniforms, framed photos and other memorabilia to include in the exhibition are asked to contact the Heritage Centre.

From Gershwin to Gaga, from Motown to Madonna, from Bacharach to Britney the Christchurch Pops Choir is heading to the Methven Heritage Centre. 

The Christchurch Pops Choir is a new musical venture that brings together passionate singers from all walks of life to perform a wide range of contemporary music including Rock, Pop, Jazz, Gospel and Musical Theatre. This is choir as you’ve never heard it before – with a repertoire which includes songs from artists such as Adele, Queen, Manhattan Transfer, Hollie Smith and Goldenhorse.

 The brain child of Musical Director Luke Di Somma, The Christchurch Pops Choir was formed in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes as an opportunity for members of the Christchurch Musical Community to have an outlet for their talent at a time when opportunities were sparse. The end result is the combination of some of Christchurch’s best talent singing talent to form the first choir of its kind in NZ. The choir has gone from strength to strength with now up to 70 voices performing together to deliver a diverse range of music to suit almost all musical tastes! 

Recent appearances include performing in the Re-Start Container Mall, the Rugby World Cup Fanzone, a free outdoor performance at Riccarton Bush, and several private functions. Appearances in 2012 include the New Zealand International Buskers Festival and the February Earthquake Memorial in Hagley Park.

 Not your traditional choir this group is funky, fresh and fun, and sure to please!  The choir is in Methven on the 28^th April and tickets are available for the Heritage Centre.

The South African born artist works predominantly in oils and acrylics but enjoys the creative spectrum of all mediums. She takes her inspiration from life and prefers to paint on location or from reference sketches and photos, finishing the work back at her studio.

“My passion for painting extends to my passion for the environment; its beauty and fragility. These concepts I constantly strive, through both my representational and conceptual work, to achieve,” says Shimmin.

Bronwyn has been immersed in art practically all her life, attending art classes and workshops from an early age. While mostly self-taught she studied Interior Design, and apprenticed under a number of well-known artists. Recently Shimmin has completed an art paper through Massey University, an Arts and Creativity Honours Diploma through The Learning Connexion; and qualified as an Arts Education Programmer (Golden USA).

She puts this training to good use, tutoring art classes and workshops from her home based studio in Temuka.

She has exhibited widely nationally and internationally in group exhibitions and has had a number of solo exhibitions. Bronwyn was also featured as Artist in Residence at the Saffron Gallery, Timaru. Consequently, her work is represented in a number of galleries and private collections within New Zealand and worldwide.

The ’Favourite Strokes’ Exhibition at the Methven Heritage Centre Art Gallery is open daily from 10am – 5pm until the 2nd April, 2012.

Methven’s Mt Hutt Memorial Hall will be filled with the sound of beautiful piano music in March when Roman Rudnytsky, concert pianist comes to town to play a recital.  Mr Rudnytsky trained at the Juillard School of Music in New York and has won the  International J.S. Bach Competition. With fantastic reviews from previous performances,  Methven is in for a treat and a great night out for lovers of classical music.

Mr Rudnystky enjoys bringing his music to smaller centres and tours the world playing in concert halls, taking Master classes and performing with orchestras. He has performed in over 90 countries around the world and is currently touring in the Pacific.

He will be in Methven on Saturday 31 March and the Methven Heritage Centre is proud to present this recital. Tickets are available at Ashburton i-SITE and the Heritage Café, Methven.

Five Mid-Canterbury artists are presenting a strong body of work at the Heritage Centre Art Gallery.

The works are predominantly figurative and are presented through the five differing styles of Sarah Harper, Suzie Millichimp, Bill Irwin, Cheryl Irwin and Vashti Johnstone.

The exhibition opening was held on the 28th October at 5.30pm, with around 100 people attending.
The exhibition at the Methven Heritage Centre Art Gallery is open daily from 10am – 5pm from Saturday the 29th October until Wednesday 7th December.