Home > Our Treasures > Public Art

Public Art

Supporting public art has become a part of the city's culture and identity. The Collections Team, working together with other Units within the Hamilton City Council, are responsible for the conservation and care of these works listed below.

In 2005, Hamilton won the Creative New Zealand Arts Provision: City and Regional Councils Award.  This award was won on the strength of the city's art policy development which has led to the recent integration of public art in Hamilton city locations.

Riff RaffRiff Raff Statue

Located at the south end of Hamilton's main Victoria Street, the Riff Raff statue commemorates the development of the idea and the writing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show by Richard O'Brien - who lived in Hamilton and worked next door to the site of the now demolished Embassy Theatre where the statue is.

Late in 2003 Weta Workshop was commissioned to create a statue of Riff Raff - one of the show's iconic characters.

Since the release of the movie nearly 30 years ago, Rocky Horror has attained a cult-following status in many parts of the world.

Nga Uri o HinetuparimaungaNga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga

2005 sculpture by Chris Booth and Diggeress Te Kanawa

If you enter the Hamilton Gardens from the eastern entrance at the corner of Cobham Drive and Hungerford Crescent your attention will immediately be caught by the huge sculpture created by two internationally renowned artists, sculptor Chris Booth who is based in Kerikeri, and Diggeress Te Kanawa who seldom goes far from her Te Kuiti home. Chris Booth has undertaken major commissions in Holland, Australia, USA, Italy and Spain, and Diggeress Te Kanawa has become renowned for her work preserving traditional Maori weaving techniques and patterns. Their design proposal was chosen in a competition to which top New Zealand artists had been invited to submit designs.

Little Bull by Molly MacalisterLittle Bull

Located in the Hamilton Garden's Victorian Flower Garden is Molly Macalister's Little Bull. This sculpture is the result of a 1964 sculpture competition to commemorate the centenary supported by the Frankton Jaycees.  A judging panel was selected which included nationally respected authorities on art such as Stewart MacLennan (Director of the NZ National Art Gallery), Colin McCahon (an artist of considerable reputation who was at the time Senior Lecturer of Elam School of Fine Arts).  Local representatives were Campbell Smith (WSA President), Hamilton's Mayor Dr Denis Rogers  and Les Grocott a Jaycee.   

There were a total of five entries to the sculpture competition by artists Macalister, Greer Twiss, Lyndon Smith, Eric Doudney, and Arnold Wilson.  As part of the judging process maquettes of five proposed sculptures were displayed around the city which allowed members of the public to formulate their opinions.  Some of which were expressed loudly in the Waikato Times particularly when the winning sculpture was announced.  

Macalister's Little Bull is cast in bronze and is semi-realistic depiction of a not fully formed sitting bull.  Campbell Smith stated that it was a timeless piece of sculpture belonging almost to a archaic period yet at the same time reaching forward.

The Farming FamilyThe Farming Family

Margriet Windhausen van den Berg

In 1990 prominent business man Sir Robert Jones donated a statue to the city of Hamilton to "commemorate the ordinary farming family as being the unsung heroes of our first 150 years". From its first days, the gift sparked much debate about whether the statue celebrates the European history of the Waikato region and renders Maori invisible.

In recent times, Hamilton's search for a contemporary image and debate about its "cow-town" image of the past has led to questions about the relevance of the Farming Family statue as an iconic feature on one of the city's main routes. The statue, a bronze life-sized sculpture by Margriet Windhausen van den Berg of Timaru was purchased for $200,000 and is cared for by the Waikato Museum.

The Farming Family consists of a male farmer and his wife, two young children, a dairy cow, a sheep and a dog. The dog was modelled on one of Sir Peter Elworthy's top dogs. The statue is located on a traffic island at the intersection of Victoria Street and the southern end of Ulster Street.

RipplesRipples

Neil Dawson

The Ripples sculpture was commissioned in 1987 by McCaw, Lewis and Chapman for the opening of the Waikato Museum building in Grantham Street. It is a suspended sculpture, comprised of a 6 metre span of carbon fibre reinforced polyester resin, which represents the ripple effects of a falling stone hitting the water. It hangs between the canopy of trees, approximately 20 metres in the air, above the Waikato Museum riverbank. Artist Neil Dawson from Christchurch was responsible for creating the sculpture.

Koru familyThe Millenium "Koru Family" Sculpture

Carla Van de Veen

Located on the bank of the Waikato River, below the Waikato Museum, the koru family sculpture was gifted to Hamilton City by the Year 2000 Millenium Committee to commemorate the family in 2000.  Made out of Hinuera Stone by Carla Van de Veen of Te Aroha.

 

Passing redPassing Red

Gaye Jurisich

Hamilton's newest piece of public art was unveiled on Tuesday 21 July 2009. Passing Red is a dynamic and interactive work by nationally-acclaimed, local artist Gaye Jurisich which sits along the full length of the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars pit lane on Mill Street as part of the Landscape Mitigation Plan.