Council decides fate of tui sculpture

Council has decided the controversial tui sculpture, taken down from its Paraparaumu Beach site in 2012, be sold through an appropriate public sales process.

The steel sculpture attracted adverse publicity when it was discovered the man who built it, Paekākāriki artist Brendan Nolan, was a sex offender.

At its Environment & Community Development (ECD) Committee meeting yesterday, Council also resolved that all funds from the sale of the sculpture be used towards funding a replacement artwork located at a suitable site at Paraparaumu Beach and that this should be done in consultation with the Paraparaumu/Raumati Community Board.

A newly appointed public art panel met to discuss the future of the tui earlier this year and recommended Council sell the sculpture rather than spend more funds to repair damage found on it after it was taken down. Panel members considered the sculpture would always be controversial if it remained in Council ownership.

With regard to a second Council-owned Nolan work, a portrait of Paekākāriki writer and academic Jackie Sturm, Council is supporting the art panel's recommendation that the Sturm family be consulted before deciding to keep the portrait in the district’s public art collection or take it out. 

Once the matter has been discussed with the family, another recommendation will be brought to Council’s ECD Committee.