Sculpture may make a return

A distinctive Palmerston North sculpture may soon be back in the public eye after nearly two years in limbo, stashed away in storage.

The Alpha Motor Inn had been the home of a valuable copper sculpture, Falling Waters , by prominent Kiwi sculptor Fred Graham, since the 1970s. But the sculpture ended up in storage for almost two years since part of the inn was demolished early last year.

The Wallace Development Company Ltd owns the land and building, on the corner of Broadway Ave and Victoria Ave, and owns the sculpture, believed to be worth upwards of $250,000. The company’s managing director Jonathan Wallace had told the Manawatu Standard it would go into storage until the company decided what to do with it, but he was open to loaning the artwork out for display.

In the meantime, the motor inn has kept up its artistic traditions, commissioning three UCOL students, under the guidance of art lecturer Steve Leurink, to paint New Zealand-themed murals in the motel’s rooms.

Te Manawa manager of collections and knowledge assets Jeff Fox said the museum had since approached Wallace and was working on a loan agreement to put the sculpture back on display.

Alpha Motor Inn owner Brenda Malan hoped to have the artwork displayed in a grass section in front of the motel.

The motel’s original owners had been close friends with Fred Graham and he’d made it to be displayed at the motel, she said.

Fox said Te Manawa was considering that option, but the museum would likely need help.

‘‘First and foremost we all want to see it displayed. The only problem [with Malan’s idea] is the cost of installing and maintaining it there.’’

Malan said she had found an engineer willing to volunteer to help install it, and she hoped for more volunteers to help restore the artwork to its original home.