Upcoming Events
2023/2024 Season
Exciting Stimulating and Highly Varied Season Ahead for the Ever Popular Akaroa Orion Art Gallery.
The Gallery’s exhibition space continues to be highly sought after with most of next season’s exhibition slots already filled. This seasons exhibitions include:
October 2023
The season begins with the Wild Side of Life on 7th October 2023 This exhibition will mark the tenth anniversary of the Peninsula based "Wild Side Art Group". Local artists Tricia Hewlett, Annette Brown, Annette Moore, Barbara Avery, Chris McMillan, Emma Perrin, Katrina Mitchell, Leslie Oorschot, Teena Irwin, and Tori Batt will all have works on show. They are guaranteed to infuse their wild side in this eclectic expose.
November 2023
Sees the much-heralded return to the Orion of North Canterbury’s famous Art duo of Sam Mahon and Ali Erikson. Entitled “Bastards and Dearly Beloveds” the exhibition is sure to delight and surprise with sculptures and works reflecting this intriguing theme. Maybe viewers will recognise some of the Bastards and Dearly Beloveds in their own lives!
December 2023
It has been some years since a photographic exhibition has been held so December sees an almost entirely photographic exhibition. Included in the line-up are local camera aficionados Meg Errington, Chris Walker, Emma Crew, Jason Crew, John Dean, Robyn Stuart, Kaye Millar, Bob Jones, and Mark Scambary, who’s lenses capture all from the everyday to the bizarre. Their works will be complimented with Kerry Thacker’s finely crafted wooden stools and chairs also on display.
January 2024
To welcome in the New Year, we have well-known local artists David Tait, Robinson’s Bay and Judy Ward, Prebbleton. Both have exhibited previously at the Orion but will bring new perspectives of our beloved Peninsula and beyond. This exhibition will run in conjunction with the Auckland School of Music festival. The School will be using the space for practice and performance, so a double sensory experience is possible. The exhibition opens on Saturday 30th December.
February 2024
Well known Diamond Harbour artist, Alice Lewis, who has been making quite a name for herself on the local art scene with several Banks Peninsula Exhibitions in recent years, will present her brand of both paintings and sculptures. Given Alice’s background, we may even see how the Peninsula’s number one pest, the possum, can be used in art forms and installations.
March 2024
The terrific trio of Sue Pearce, Miranda Joseph, and Robyn Bardas all Master of Fine Arts graduates from the Dunedin School of Art, are no strangers to exhibiting jointly. They are at the forefront of artistic responses to sustainability and climate change concerns. Each artist uses landscape painting to explore political and cultural concerns about the survival of our natural environment. Sue Pearce, a merit award winner in the Parkin Drawing Award in 2021, works gesturally with fluid acrylic to suggest the tactile qualities of ground surfaces and plant forms. Miranda, a finalist in NZ Emerging Artist in 2015, combines Japanese influences in her work. Robyn too, is very much a contemporary landscape painter working between video, photography, print and paint.
April 2024
April brings the Nancy Tichborne Retrospective. This exhibition has been chosen as a fitting finale to 50 years of the Orion Akaroa Gallery bringing arts and culture to Akaroa and the Peninsula. Nancy whose name is synonymous with water colours was a stalwart of the Gallery. Her exhibitions were always eagerly anticipated and her exquisite depiction of flowers unparalleled. Both Nancy and her husband Brian contributed greatly to the success of the Gallery in recent years. Nancy’s family will select a range of her works for this much awaited celebration of the enrichment Nancy brought to art circles throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Nancy Tichborne Retrospective
Orion Powerhouse Gallery
March 24th - April 14th, 2024 (Closed Good Friday)
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am - 4pm, Closed Mondays
Retrospective - Nancy Tichborne
French Peak Wines to sponsor the Nancy Tichborne Retrospective
opening night for members.
French Peak Vineyard, where Scottish owners have followed their dreams and made the move to this New Zealand countryside paradise after 13 years in Singapore. Purchased in June 2021, Carolyn & Simon have been on a journey of discovery, immersing themselves in the local community and learning the art of growing grapes and making wine. Their passion is creating premium award-winning wines and giving their visitors a truly memorable experience. They are proud to continue running the vineyard using organic and biodynamic principles that have been in place since 2016, awaiting their full BioGro certification.
Sauvignon Blanc 2023 - This wine has tropical aromatics with guava, pineapple and passion fruit. The palate is nuanced with citrus and ripe tree fruits showing freshness and lively length. It is a beautiful summer wine.
Rose 2022 - This award winning wine is fresh and vibrant on the nose with creamy berry fruits - strawberry, raspberry and boysenberry - with a hint of citrus. The palate is crisp and dry - well balanced with some subtle complexities and juicy acidity leaving you longing for another sip.
Pinot Noir 2022 - This medium-bodied wine offers a textural mouthfeel and fine-grained tannins, beautifully supporting the vibrant notes of crushed red fruits and subtle spice. With its elegant and refined profile, this Pinot Noir is the perfect option for those seeking a sophisticated and versatile red wine.
Orion Powerhouse Gallery Open Weekend
Orion Powerhouse Gallery
Trinity Hall 6th & 7th April, 2024 from 10-4pm
Akaroa's Cultural and Artistic Secrets Revealed!
See Art through the Decades!
Alongside works from Akaroa's Famous Nancy Tichborne