Almost twenty-five years ago, Franki James – a teacher at the former New Horizon College of English in Napier – set her overseas students a task for home-work, preparing a talk about one of their interests.
She had no way of knowing it would set in motion a chain of events which would culminate later this month in an Exhibition & Auction of Pre-loved Artworks at Creative Arts Napier as a fund-raiser for Cranford Hospice.
One of her students brought along a portfolio of photographs. So impressed with the artwork was Franki that she took him along to Creative Napier which, at that time, had an outlet in Hastings Street, displaying work by local artists. They, in turn, asked the student to mount and frame the photos with a view to exhibiting them.
Several weeks later, Franki returned with the student, only to find the shop had moved and no longer had any exhibition space. Disappointed but undaunted, she set about trying to find a solution.
At the time, she was a regular customer of Copyworld in Dickens Street where she had noticed a large expanse of royal blue wall behind the photocopy machines. Explaining the situation to the owner, she was given the go-ahead to use it, the ethos being that it would give other customers something to look at while waiting for orders to be processed.
During the month-long exhibition, local entrepreneur-to-be David Trubridge came into the shop. He had just returned from Antarctica with an amazing collection of photos for which he was trying to find an exhibition space. Long story short, he was the second of many exhibitors over the ensuing years, his brilliant photos of ice floes, glaciers and icebergs highlighted against the royal blue back-drop – and resulting in him being given his own space in what was then the Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery in Napier. For him, the rest – as they say – is history!
As for the overseas student? To further improve his English – and with Franki’s encouragement – he became a volunteer at The Beacon, the former Presbyterian Support-facilitated community perched atop Napier hill which provided respite for people with chronic, degenerative neurological conditions. He has since gone on to pursue a very successful professional career as a photographer in the USA.
His photo “Memories of The Beacon” is one of forty pieces to be included in a Silent Auction to be held from 11th to 23rd July as part of an Exhibition of Pre-loved Artworks at Creative Arts Napier – which now has a permanent display centre at 16 Byron Street, Napier.
Additionally, ten principal pieces will be auctioned by Brayden Coldicutt, Harcourt’s Auctioneer of the Year 2024, at a Gala Evening in the same venue on Wednesday July 23 (6-8pm).
