25 June 2024
One brings joy to its visitors, the other enables its patients to live a more joyful life.
So, it seemed only natural for Matakana art and sculpture park Sculptureum to form a partnership with specialist palliative care provider Harbour Hospice. For the next 12 months, until June 2025, every ticket booked online at Sculptureum using the promo codes HOSPICEADULT or HOSPICEFAMILY will generate a donation to Harbour Hospice – and a discounted rate.
Sculptureum manager Tessa Hazel says choosing to support the charity, which cares for one in three dying people in the community, was an easy decision.
“When I was younger, a very close family friend of ours was in hospice care, and the incredible support our families received left a permanent imprint on me.” Tessa also has an aunt who is a hospice nurse “and the families she cares for show her a lot of gratitude for the work she does”.
Tessa hopes the partnership will encourage more people to visit Sculptureum, which has been ranked by Trip Advisor as the fourth best attraction in Auckland, especially families who are receiving hospice care.
“The gardens and galleries can be a real escape and allow you to be in the moment and forget about what you’re going through. There are minimal descriptors, so that people just enjoy the experience and make their own mind up about the art. And the pieces we have are not your traditional paintings or pieces of art. The owners, Anthony and Sandra Grant, see so many things as art and they don’t like the idea of being constrained by rules about what art should look like. If it brings you joy, then it’s art.”
Originally bare farmland, Sculptureum was developed by Anthony and Sandra, both barristers and passionate collectors of art, and opened seven years ago. It features beautifully curated gardens which are easily accessed by 1.4km of wheelchair-friendly pathways, and it also houses indoor art galleries and a restaurant, ROTHKO.
More than 800 pieces of art from all over the world are on display and the exhibitions are updated with new pieces every three months You can experience a Picasso or Cezanne next to an inexpensive print, or see a sophisticated figurine by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, grouped with a ceramic owl ornament you might find in your grandmother’s lounge. There is a stunning piece made from kitchen forks, and another from cable ties.
From August ROTHKO will have a new chef, Neil Sapitula, whose exceptional dishes are influenced by Philippine and Spanish cuisine. And with each seasonal change the gardens provide a different backdrop to the sculptures they house. If you’re trying to figure out the best time to visit Tessa will tell you, “It’s actually always a good time to come! There is always so much to see,” she says.
Sculptureum is open seven days a week at 40 Omaha Flats Rd, Matakana. To generate a donation to Harbour Hopsice as well as receive a special discounted rate, book your tickets online using the promo codes HOSPICEADULT OR HOSPICEFAMILY: www.sculptureum.nz/
