Fostering Cultural Arts

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1009, 27 June 1930, Page 10

Fostering Cultural Arts

CONJOINT BUILDING PLANNED

A FORWARD step in the proposal to erect a joint building for a faculty of fine arts for the Auckland University College, accommodation for the Auckland Society of Arts and a new Art. Gallerv for the City, was taken by the City Council

last evening. The Library Committee, which has been considering the proposal, recommended that the council join with the I niversity College authorities and the Auckland Society of Arts in a deputation to the Minister of Education with a view to obtaining the sanction of the Government to use the site the old Grammar School buildings occupy in Symonds Street.

In adopting the recommendation the council appointed the Mayor. Mr. G. Baildon, Cr. Ellen Melville, chairman of the committee, and Mr. John Barr, librarian and director of the Art Gallery. as the council delegates to visit Wellington.

The initial move came from the Auckland Society of Arts through its president, Dr. E. B. Gunson, who a year ago advised the council that his society, having sold its building, was working under a disadvantage and wished to provide itself with a permanent home. This was the more desirable in order that the society might fulfil the terms of the McKechie trust, which instructed the society to provide a building to be used for the exhibition of pictures, whenever held by the society, and for hanging pictures of colonial artists intended for sale. Having in mind the intention of the council to build a new Art Gallery, the society suggested that a joint building be erected. In July, 1929, the Hon. Sir George Fowlds, president of the Auckland University College, approached the council with the suggestion that the proposed faculty of fine arts should be united with the new Art Gallery, so that a central and common home might be established. Sir George outlined a scheme to embrace all the responsible cultural and aesthetic societies of the city, such as the Little Theatre Society, the Operatic Society, and the Society of Arts. Tentative proposals had been drawn up involving a capital sum of some £lll,OOO, part to be spent on buildings and part left as an endowment to provide income for annual upkeep, said Sir George. The proposals envisaged the use of the old Grammar School site. The Minister of Education in 1926 set down in writing the opinion of himself and his department as being that by the use of this site for a faculty of fine arts “the interests of higher education in Auckland would be greatly advantaged.” The very much stronger and wider appeal of the larger proposals now suggested

were Immediately apparent. The very evident tangible benefits to the City Council in the matetr of site and in other directions need not be stressed. Sir George Fowlds remarked. The director of the Art Gallery has reported:—“The opinion which T have held for some years, and which has only been strengthened with the passing of time, is that new accommodation is urgently required outside of the present building for either the library or the Art Galleny, and having decided after careful consideration that the library could reasonably well utilise the present building entirely for this purpose, a new building should be found for the Art Gallery. I have considered the possibility of the latter utilising the library’s quarters for extensions, but its feasibility was proved impracticable, so that, in my opinion, there is no alternative but that the gallery should evacuate the present premises. “Although it is not likely that the collections will increase at the same ratio in the futufe, as with the development of an institution of this character the nature of the additions become a matter of quality as against quantity, it seems advisable to consider the erection of a building four times the size of the present one. say 4,000 ft of wall space,” said Mr. Barr.

“Such a building would. I believe, meet the requirements of the institution for a period considerably over 50 years, for although additions will be considerable, withdrawals are also inevitable as the standard of the collection advances. At the end of this period it does not mean that the usefulness of the building would have been reached, for in the event of the building becoming fully utilised the provision of branch galleries can be considered.

“It would be necessary to erect a building of the suggested dimensions at once. A building capable' of providing twice the accommodation of the present one would be sufficient for a period of say 20 years, but in the original design a plan of the completed building should be insisted upon.”