Prestigious Award For Former Woodford House student

A significant contribution to raising awareness of and accessibility to New Zealand art has seen former Woodford House student Avenal McKinnon, MNZM, presented with the Tempus Award 2018. McKinnon became Director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in 2005 at a time when the trust had no physical exhibition space, which proved to be a huge challenge. She found the members of the team to be immensely supportive, as were portrait galleries around the world, and all work undertaken and programmes achieved were the result of willing, collaborative effort. “I think we all dream of somehow making the world a better place. In my position at the Portrait Gallery, I wanted to make art, through portraiture and visual biography, freely available and accessible to all, to help bring vividly to life those who have shaped our nation. For it is in understanding our past that we can look to the future,” McKinnon said. Photo: Woodford House principal Julie Peterson (left), NZ Portrait Gallery former director Avenal McKinnon and Woodford House Old Girls’ Association president Mary Sherratt. For more on this and other great Hawke’s Bay stories go to hawkesbaytoday.co.nz Posted: 1 December 2018