Sculpture trail artwork gets council green light
Boom Boom is a go-go and will soon grace the banks of the Waikato River as a new “destination sculpture” which some say will attract thousands of visitors to Taupō.
On Tuesday, Taupō district councillors voted to approve the installation of two sculptures, and confirm funding of $100,000 for one of them, as part of Taupō’s new Riverside Park Sculpture Trail.
In his report, the council’s operations and delivery general manager Andrew Moraes said the $100,000 had been approved by council in 2018, and reconfirmed in the council’s Long-term Plan budget in 2021.
He said funding was also agreed to in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the council and the Taupō Sculpture Trust in 2020, and the terms of the MOU meant it was not the council’s job to choose artworks for the trail, only to approve their location.
The new sculpture trail in Riverside Park, located within the Tongariro Domain, would see up to 21 artworks installed, the first two being Flip, a wind activated kinetic sculpture previously located at Colonel Roberts Reserve, and Boom Boom, a piece commissioned by the trust from Kiwi artist Gregor Kregar. Boom Boom is a 7m-high sculpture consisting of a large rock made of corten steel upon which will sit a dinosaur made of mirror polished, marine grade stainless steel.
Two councillors voted against funding Boom Boom - Anna Park and Sandra Greenslade. Both said that in the current economic climate the money could be better used elsewhere.
Park said the original funding decision was made “before a world pandemic and before the cost of living going out the gate” and “just because there’s a budget for it, does not mean we have to spend it”.
Greenslade, a qualified art teacher, said she could not support spending $100,000 on a sculpture, even though the council had made that commitment before she became a councillor.
“I struggle opposing this ... but times have changed and I think it is something our community might not thank us for.
“I’d like to see the $100,000 invested on something a little bit more appropriate for our district,” she said.
Taupō Sculpture Trust deputy chairperson Christine Robb addressed the meeting and said Boom Boom would be a “huge asset to the town”. She said the sculpture would appreciate in value over time and would be an “iconic feature in the newly established Riverside Sculpture Trail”.
“I want to assure you that Gregor Kregar is one of the few pre-eminent sculptors in New Zealand and his sought-after works are rarely able to be purchased.
“This is a one-off unique opportunity which we’d love you to embrace,” she said.
Councillor Christine Rankin said it would “make a dramatic difference to the number of people who come here” and would be “really controversial to begin with, as other [art] works are, but then it will attract multi-thousands of visitors”.
Councillor Duncan Campbell said the council should honour past commitments and felt the arts got a “raw deal” in New Zealand. “I think we can do this and I think it is worthwhile,” he said.