Raymond Henry "Sandy" Adsett (born 27 August 1939) is a New Zealand visual artist and educator. He is acknowledged for championing the art of kōwhaiwhai painting, creating a context for the artform within the development of contemporary Māori art. In 2020 Adsett was honoured by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand with an Icon Whakamana Hiranga award "for his profound impact on the Māori community and Māori arts education system within Aotearoa."

Biography

Adsett was born in

Raupunga Raupunga is a small settlement in the northern Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's eastern North Island. It is located close to the country's highest railway bridge, the Mohaka Viaduct, which crosses the Mohaka River. The predominantly Māori ...

near Wairoa on 27 August 1939. Of Māori descent, he affiliates to Ngāti Kahungunu and

Ngāti Pāhauwera Ngāti Pāhauwera is a Māori iwi of Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being '' ...

. He attended Te Aute College in Hawkes Bay. His interest in art first began on his family farm as a way to fill in time and grew from there. He received his first formal art training at Ardmore Teachers' College in Auckland. He completed his third year of teachers' college in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. While at Ardmore, he began travelling to regional schools to introduce Māori arts into the school syllabus. This was a focus of his work that would continue throughout his life. He was one of a group of teachers that started this work in the 1960s. In 1961, Adsett became an arts specialist for the Department of Education's Advisory Service, within a programme established by educational leader Gordon Tovey. Adsett has cited the mentorship of the Ngāti Porou master carver Pine Taiapa as the most significant influence on his life as an artist and educator. Adsett's role in the department was helping introduce the new Māori Arts in Schools programme. In 1991, Adsett became a principal tutor at

Tairawhiti Polytechnic Tairawhiti Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institution. The main campus is based in Gisborne in the North Island. It provides full- and part-time education leading to certificates, diplomas, and applied bachelor's degrees. ...

in Gisborne, working in the Toihoukura School of Māori Visual Arts. He took over from Ivan Ehau, the founder of the school, who had died that year. Adsett was involved in formatting a '' wānanga'' arts direction for the progamme. In 2002, Adsett returned to Hawke's Bay, where he set up the Toimairangi School of Māori Visual Culture within Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in Hastings. He continues to work there as an adjunct professor. Outside of his work in the education sector, Adsett's own artwork has been included in major art exhibitions. This includes: "Headlands" (1992) in Sydney, Australia; "Te Waka Toi" (1992-1994), which toured the United States; and "Toi tū Toi Ora" at Auckland Art Gallery.

Honours and awards

In the 2005 New Year Honours, Adsett was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to art. In 2014, Adsett was conferred an honorary doctorate by Massey University, and he received Te Tohu o Te Papa Tongarewa Rongomaraeroa award in the 2018 Te Waka Toi Awards. In 2020, Adsett was named as an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon, an honour limited to 20 living New Zealanders.

Collections

Adsett's work is held in public gallery collections throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, including:
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Tairawhiti Museum Te Whare Taonga o te Tairawhiti

Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

References

External links

Te Waka Toi Awards
Te Ao Maori News, 7 December 2014 (video interview)
Sandy Adsett - Te Waka Toi Awards 2018
CreativeNZ, 19 November 2018 (video interview)
Influence: Dr Sandy Adsett
Te Ahi Kaa, RNZ, 5 May 2019 (radio interview)
Artist Sandy Adsett honoured with Arts Foundation medal
Seven Sharp, 3 July 2020 (television clip)
New Arts Icon Sandy Adsett
Saturday Morning, RNZ, 4 July 2020 (radio interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Adsett, Sandy 1939 births Living people Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Māori artists Ngāti Kahungunu people Ngāti Pāhauwera people 20th-century New Zealand artists 21st-century New Zealand artists New Zealand painters People from the Hawke's Bay Region University of Otago alumni