How you can soon get a closer look at Gareth Morgan's giant Transmission Gully sculptures
The economist and philanthropist will be inviting the public to wander through his private sculpture park on the western hills north of Pāuatahanui.
Ever driven along Wellington's Transmission Gully road and thought, 'is that a giant park bench in the distance?' You're not alone.
First came a rainbow-painted old New Zealand railway pedestrian bridge. Then, a dramatically scaled-up park bench - big enough for people to walk under - and giant hilltop works by leading sculptors Phil Price and Neil Dawson.
With eight sculptures already and six more to come, it's the beginnings of a giant sculpture trail that Morgan reveals will open to the public in spring.
Giant sculptures by Neil Dawson (white feather) and Phil Price (orange kinetic work) as seen from Transmission Gully on The Morgan's land and soon to be public art trail.
RNZ / MARK PAPALII
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It’s a project six years in the making, Morgan told RNZ’s Culture 101.
“These are large sculptures, it's like building a house. It's even worse, actually.”
Morgan himself came up with the concept for the massive park bench, inspired by the normal-sized benches that dot the 9-hole golf course on the property.
“We've got a heap of those, the smaller versions, all around the golf course.
“And I looked at them and I thought, you know, these are actually quite cool. They're made out of recycled plastic and, you know, they're really good. So why don't we make a big one?”
Gareth Morgan's new giant public art park set to open in Spring
Gareth Morgan.
RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
One of his favourite sculptors, Neil Dawson, has contributed to the project, he says.
"With Neil's work, the one that really grabbed me was the one at Alan Gibbs' [Horizons] place north of Auckland.
“I just looked at that thing and it just captured me. It just did something emotionally and I can't really put my finger on it.
However, Dawson agreed to come to Morgan’s site and has contributed Touchdown to the sculpture park.
“Which is the feather blowing down the valley… and you can see this from the motorway as well.
“I mean, it's 25-tonne that sculpture. It's got a tonne of paint on it, but the real secret to it is the 140 tonne of concrete and steel underneath holding it up in the winds.”
A rainbow-painted NZ railway bridge on The Moran's golf course, as seen from Transmission Gully.
RNZ / MARK PAPALII
Visitors will be able to walk, bike or golf buggy the almost 5-km long trail, which sits alongside The Morgans' 9-hole golf course, which the family purchased from Pāuatahanui Golf Club in 2019.
This significant private estate also features 60 hectares of what was pine forest and is now is being reestablished as native forest.
There is also an intimate live music venue on the golf course, The Morgans' Clubhouse, which Morgan had originally planned to bowl over.
“It's just a couple of old army sheds, you know, stapled together in the days that you could do those things.
“But my colleague, Nick Tansley said, 'no, no, don't do that. I can make it a real bit of Kiwiana and we'll have concerts in there'.”
Five years hence it has hosted 40-odd concerts by the likes of Vera Ellen, Hollie Smith, Anika Moa and the Phoenix Foundation.
“They're incredibly popular. And so, we have a big mailing list of the locals and beyond. And these things sell out in a couple of hours.
“It's very small. It's only 100 [capacity]. And that's the beauty of it. It's very intimate. It's almost like a lounge.”
