Marianne Hargreaves (NZOM) is one of Ōtautahi’s great champion of the arts.
A founding force behind the Christchurch Arts Festival visual arts programme and in 2010, she became a driving force behind WORD Christchurch, helping build both into nationally significant events.
Not only a champion for the arts, Marianne is also an artist herself – her passion for crafts, particularly textiles, has led her work to be exhibited internationally, including her contributions to the renowned Shakespeare’s Globe theatre hangings in London.
As the Arts Advisor to the Arts Centre of Christchurch, she established one of the region’s few Artist in Residence programmes in 2004 and served two terms as president of the Friends of the Christchurch Art Gallery. In 1993, she coordinated the Women’s Suffrage Commemorative Wall Hanging for the Embroiderers’ Guild, now hanging in the Christchurch Town Hall, for the centennial year of women winning the right to vote in New Zealand.
Marianne says her purpose lies in making space for others, enabling artists, telling untold stories, and stitching together the people and resources to make great things happen. In this episode, she talks to Cosmo Barnes about her work in bringing some of Christchurch’s best-loved festivals to life.
