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was Mair. Her mother was Eleanor Catherine Sperrey – known as Kate – she had her own studio at Lambton Quay at the end of WWII, she was a very gifted portrait painter. You can see examples of her work in e Elms.

“ at was Airini’s mother, art was in her genes. Airini’s father was Captain Gilbert Mair – of the Land Wars, which are part of e Elms’ history.”

Kathleen Kirkby

Penelope says the person who acquired the painting in the 1940s and took it to Invercargill was Kathleen Kirkby. “Kathleen herself is really important to Tauranga because she lived here for 55 years and was a devoted Red Cross worker.

“She was given the Queen’s Service medal for her 40 years’ service.

“Kathleen’s maiden name was Anderson, and she came from a house called Anderson Park. e rst time I went there – you drive around the corner and see this 1924 house and it’s like something out of Jane Austin. at was her family home.”

Penelope says Kathleen had a good art collection of NZ and European artists. “When she died, her nephews sent her art collection back to the house Anderson Park because it was an art gallery.

“ at’s where I rst saw this work from Airini Vane and came across Kathleen Kirkby,” says Penelope, who’d visited Invercargill as Tauranga Art Gallery’s curator on a research trip.

After this Penelope negotiated for Airini’s painting to be brought to Tauranga to the gallery for three exhibitions.

“We borrowed this painting three times for three di erent exhibitions. So three times it made the journey back and forth to Tauranga.

“In the back of my mind, over the years, I kept thinking: ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to try and get this work back here, to repatriate it to where I think it belongs?’ And of course, you couldn’t get anywhere more tting than e Elms because that is where it was painted from.”

Interesting person

Penelope says Airini Vane was an interesting person. “Airini was actually marooned here during WWII – so a lot of her work from that period was created here.

“She married the honourable Ralph Vane in London in 1917, and then travelled extensively.”

She painted at every opportunity. “ ey had a castle in Wales, they toured the world, she had one of the rst home movie cameras... she had an amazing life for that time period.”

It took most of 2022 to orchestrate the loan agreement, which Penelope thinks is worth it since she believes the artwork means more to our community here in Tauranga than it does in Invercargill.

“People can now stand out on the lawn [at e Elms] and check out that view – and compare it to Airini’s painting back in 1942.” ‘ e Mission House Garden’ is displayed in e Elms’ drawing room.

Talking about room for rivers

Forest and Bird are very pleased to welcome society national freshwater advocate Tom Kay to speak at a public meeting at the Papamoa Surf Club at 7pm on Monday, July 10. Tom will be talking about how the way we have managed our environment has exacerbated ooding and disaster risk, the impact of ood protection engineering on our rivers and communities, and the approach we could be taking instead.

Everyone is welcome to our meeting at the Papamoa Surf Club which is located at Papamoa Beach. Access is from Papamoa Beach Road with two entries opposite the local shops on the corner of Domain Road. ere is plenty of room for car parking in the Papamoa Domain.

Whittaker is a stunningly handsome two-year-old Sharpei cross male. Whittaker has all the looks and charm of a perfect gentleman. He came into our care after his owners were sadly unable to care for him

Have your say lifestyle, where he can anymore. He is quite a calm boy and would love to settle into an active family lifestyle, where he can really come into his own and thrive even further.

Whittaker is desexed, patiently waiting.

Ref: 579596.

Waka Kotahi is working to protect the route for a new four-lane highway and shared path between Te Puna and Ōmokoroa.

People are invited to take the opportunity to view and contribute to the draft plans for this important project, ahead of the lodgment of designation and resource consent applications with Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council later in 2023. This process marks a significant step forward to protect the route.

View materials and have your say at nzta.govt.nz/takitimunorth by Friday 4 August 2023