Postcard. Gold Medal Series, No.211.
Date: 1900s.
Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch & Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.
Construction is due to start in August on a combined library, community facility and museum in Sumner to replace those lost as a result of the 2011 earthquakes.
The building will include a library, museum exhibition and storage space as well as a hall (with stage), and kitchen facilities.
The design draws inspiration from the local landscape, incorporating natural timber, the colours of the seaside and architectural features from the demolished Sumner Community Centre. The facility will open next year.
All the design decisions have been made but one crucial piece of the puzzle is still missing and you can help. We need a name for this new multi-use facility. So if you’ve got any thoughts about what we should call it, please submit your idea. Submissions are open until 12 June and the best suggestions will be open for a public vote with a winner announced in July.
We are looking for a catchy name with environmental, historical or cultural relevance to the Sumner area.
Lacking inspiration? These resources might help –
Sumner World War II Local Defences Trail (brochure), from our Christchurch Places A-Z
When I first moved to Christchurch, there were very few wall murals and the outdoor sculptures were just statues of monarchs or founding fathers. For my art fix, I headed off to the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, tucked in behind the museum in the Botanic Gardens. It was a lovely building, full of many wondrous works of art. It was too small and could only have a fraction of its collection on display. I was delighted to visit the new Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu in 2003. My favourite pieces were on display and there were galleries full of paintings I had never seen before.
When the earthquakes struck and the gallery was closed, I thought it would be years before I saw art in Christchurch. I was wrong. It seamed that every smooth wall and every spare space made way for art.
The road to Sumner became an art gallery when all the shipping containers got decorated. When I arrived in Sumner, almost every container, fence and wall had been pimped out.
New Brighton and Lyttelton were the next colourful destinations. What could have been depressing road trips became an adventure. I wanted to see what the locals had in store.
The ruined buildings in the central city became the canvas for many artists, and they made walking through town much more enjoyable that it could have been. The Justice Precinct has copies of works of art on the wall. Copies of paintings are on a wall on Moorhouse Avenue.
Everywhere I looked, there was a mural on a wall. Unfortunately, a mural on Barbadoes Street has almost disappeared because of the construction of a new building. I expect I’ll be waiting a long time to see it in all its glory again.
Re:START Mall is pretty colourful. I think I can count that as a work of art.
Gap Filler created works of art too. They really are almost sculptures. The spaces created were unexpected and made me smile.
I have missed the Art Gallery and I am looking forward to wandering through its rooms again. However, when it was closed, I realised one important thing: Christchurch is an art gallery.
Kiwis love the sea and luckily we have a chance to properly celebrate it every year with Seaweek. The theme for Seaweek this year is “Look beneath the surface – Papatai ō roto – Papatai ō raro”.
There are lots of Seaweek events that Cantabrians can head along to:
Find more Canterbury Seaweek events on the Seaweek website and look for resources about New Zealanders and the sea on our catalogue. Seaweek runs from Saturday 28 February to Sunday 8 March 2015 and is run by the NZ Association for Environmental Education.
Come along to share your ideas on the new Sumner community facility at the Sumner Union Church Hall, corner of Hardwick and Nayland Streets – Sunday 23 November, 10.30am-1.30pm.
The first session is at 10.30am if you are keen to join a group and contribute your ideas to the concept design or if you just want to hear what others have suggested come to the second session beginning at 12.30pm
Christchurch City Council is holding the workshop to give you the opportunity to develop, share and discuss ideas for the design of the new facility.
The ideas will be considered by a Joint Working Group being set up to help with finalising the concept design for the new facility. The new facility will incorporate a library, community and museum space. It will be built on the site of the demolished facilities in Wakefield Avenue.
Find out more on the Future Christchurch site.
