Timaru art anniversary

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32450, 10 November 1970, Page 14

Timaru art anniversary

(From I

D. W. HODGE)

The South Canterbury Arts;’ Society will celebrate its i seventy-fifth anniversary next ’ week. ' To mark the occasion, the society’s annual exhibition 1 will be open to the public 1 for a week from November < 15. ’ The society held its inaugural meeting at the < Borough Council office. Another meeting took place that year, when Archdeacon Har-, per was elected the first president. The group’s first exhibition was held in 1896 in the old Assembly Rooms. Mr J. Craigie became president in 1912. The society went into recess during the First World War, and was revived in 1920 with Mr P. W. Rule as -secretary. There was another recess when war broke out in 1939. In 1951, Mr A. G. Manson called a meeting of persons interested in the arts, and the society which became an incorporated society two years later received a “shot in the arm” under his presidency. Mr E. C. Errey succeeded i Mr Mason as president for a period until Mr Manson resumed office. In 1955 Mr J. W. Grant bequeathed Aigantoghe Art Gallery to the city, and the Timaru City Council formed a joint committee of councillors and art society representatives to guide the affairs of the gallery. This position continues with the joint committee now under the chairmanship of the Deputy Mayor (Or. S. R. I Bennett). The present director of the art gallery is Mr Manson. In 1957, Mr C. E. Brunsden was elected president, and he was succeeded in 1958 by Mr L. E. Finch. s Annual exhibitions were held at the Bay Hall for the ; large offering of exhibits by local artists and from members of other societies all I 1 over the country. Mr Finch was succeeded by Mr C. W. Don (president from 1964 until 1967), and Mr R. L. Dohig held the I position for the next two years. I The society now has 216 I members, many of whom are • working members. “We look to the future

with confidence in maintain- 1 ing the visual arts in South i Canterbury," said Mr Mil- i ward. I The society owes much to 1 the late .Mr Clifford Aubrey, I Brunsden, who was director ; of the art gallery from the i time it Was established in I 1956 until the year of his i death, 1969. 1 He held a deep interest in 1

the progress and development of the art gallery, restored the city’s art collection and, as well as being a keeper of Timaru’s art treasures, was also a dedicated artist (he was a strong supporter of the arts society and a member of its committee), a keen collector of pewter and china, and a lover of sculpture.