Artist gives back to free ambulance
After a dash to hospital earlier this year, Richard Ponder of Rona Gallery is giving back to the ambulance service that came to his rescue.
Richard and brother Michael, along with the gallery team, have opened the Ponder This exhibition as a fundraiser for Wellington Free Ambulance.
Ponder was picked up by an ambulance team three months ago when he collapsed from severe dehydration. ‘‘They were just fantastic, I can’t thank them enough.’’
He spent a day in hospital on a drip before being allowed home.
‘‘I was just lucky that they picked me up,’’ he said. ‘‘I literally could not move; if it had not been for my wife I would have still been there.’’
The duo have held exhibitions like this before, raising more than $16,000 for Te Omanga Hospice last year, and Ponder hopes to raise that much again.
He and his brother, who lives in Blenheim, were like chalk and cheese in their artistic style, he said. ‘‘We are totally different in what we do,’’ Ponder said. The brothers grew up immersed in art. Their father was an architect who designed Scott Base, and their mother won an art scholarship but ‘‘the war came along’’.
A portion of all art sales from Rona’s exhibition will go toward keeping ambulances free and available for all Wellingtonians.
Wellington Free Ambulance chief executive Mike Grant was amazed at the calibre of art on display, and grateful for the support. ‘‘We are proud to be here to serve our communities,’’ Grant said.
‘‘Everyone supporting us isn’t just supporting us to be there when we are needed, you are helping us build a better health system, a better way of working.’’
Grant drew a comparison between the brothers and the Ma¯ ori proverb, ‘‘He toi whakairo, he mana tangata.’’
‘‘Where there is artistic excellence, there is human dignity. Both Mike and Richard are phenomenal artists and their passion shines through in this exhibition.’’
The exhibition is on at Rona Gallery in Muritai Rd, Eastbourne, until Sunday from 10am to 4pm.