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While the awe-inspiring sculptures undoubtedly steal the show, a diverse range of exotic animals such as giraffe, zebra and North American bison also call Gibbs Farm home.
The Gibbs Farm sculpture park, overlooking the Kaipara Harbour, will open its gates next month to raise money for an extension to the Albertland Museum in Wellsford.
Owner Alan Gibbs is the museum’s patron and an Albertland descendant.
Museum volunteer Lyn Johnston says the event is a chance for locals to visit a world-class destination, which is home to many major site-specific artworks by some of the world’s most significant artists.
The museum’s building project will double the size of the current building in Port Albert Road and could cost around $1 million. It will provide additional display space and storage, as well as a special exhibition area and workshop.
The museum already has $200,000 put aside for the build, but will need to raise the balance through grants and fundraising.
Only about a half of the museum’s total collection is on display. As well as journals and ships’ passenger lists dating back to the 1860s, it has unpublished manuscripts and thousands of photographs, including around 10,000 in the Marsh Collection and 20,000 from the Coast to Coast newspaper collection.
The Gibbs Farm fundraiser will be held on Thursday, April 9.
Visitors are encouraged to take a picnic lunch, although Wellsford Plunket will have light snacks available to buy. Coffee and ice creams will also be available.
Tickets cost $40 for adults, $30 for seniors and $10 for students, and are available at albertlandmuseum.co.nz
Commissioned
Alan Gibbs bought the farm on the Kaipara Coast Highway from Neil Barr in 1991. In the intervening 30 years, he has installed major works by Graham Bennett, Chris Booth, Daniel Buren, Bill Culbert, Neil Dawson, Marijke de Goey, Andy Goldsworthy, Ralph Hotere, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, Len Lye, Russell Moses, Peter Nicholls, Eric Orr, Tony Oursler, George Rickey, Peter Roche, Richard Serra, Kenneth Snelson, Richard Thompson, Leon van den Eijkel and Zhan Wang. Most works in the collection are commissioned.
