How we came about.

Art Rentals (NZ) was founded by Doreen and Bryce Hawkins in the 1970s in Hamilton, New Zealand in response to a need to improve Bryce's tired office space in the company he was managing.

The objective was to improve the interior decor in line with customers' expectations of a professional office space without the need for extensive interior design remodelling. Many businesses at the time were cautious to spend money on assets that were not part of their core business, a strategy that still holds true today.

There was no company in Hamilton that provided hire of New Zealand art. Word of the ability to hire quality original art spread and more professionals lined up to recommend the service to their managers, as a cost effective way to brighten up austere office space. Our clients were often so impressed with our collection that they have asked us to provide paintings and sculptures to brighten up their homes for special events or as part of home staging for sale. They recognised the benefit of projecting the true wealth of their property with the prestige of original art in their home.

Rental of artwork in an office space is normally tax deductible, like the hire of other business equipment.

Where the journey took us.

In the early 1980s Art Rentals moved to Christchurch, and set about brightening the decor of accountants, lawyers, doctors, call centres and clients' homes, introducing people to the art of local artists with artwork that they could relate to.

At Art Rentals there is no such thing as a wrong choice, there is what you like and what you don't like!

Our service is designed to provide a hassle help free way to improve blank office walls, and provide inspiration in an otherwise austere office environment. The collection has been selected to make staff feel comfortable and inspired at work. Managers have the flexibility to change the pictures and update the mood of the office with just a phone call.

In 1991 we were asked to provide rental artwork for a large corporate client on the recommendation from a manger who had seen the benefits of the service first hand in his previous organisation. The client went on to include the rental of local artwork as a management tool to elicit a change in the culture of the organisation. The management team recognised the ability of staff to take charge of their working environment, dramatically improved morale. During the course of choosing the artwork for their workspace, issues were addressed in a non confrontational way, which empowered the staff, fostered team building and promoted a positive corporate culture. The use of the change of artwork as a cost efficient management tool was then rolled out to all levels of the organisation with positive results in cementing the change in culture.

Show your staff that their opinion is valued. Let them take ownership of their office by choosing art that means something to them!

In June 1994 Doreen and Bryce organized and presented an exhibition of New Zealand artworks in London, England, choosing artists from both the North and South Islands, focusing on the unique imagery of the New Zealand landscape and its people. Eighty five artworks were chosen to showcase the wide range of talent available in New Zealand, including cityscapes, rural landscapes, cafe scenes and abstract representations of a diverse landscape. The exhibition was held at the gallery of Art for Offices close to the Tower of London.
Later in that year The New Zealand Wine Guild in London organized for the artworks to be re-hung at Art for Offices gallery for a very successful New Zealand Wine Guild, Christmas wine tasting function as the exhibition aligned closely with their aims of New Zealand having a wealth of culture and a diverse landscape to draw on. The exhibition also exposed local Londoners working for New Zealand companies in the United Kingdom, to the art and culture of New Zealand.

The artists represented at this exhibition were, Michael Armstrong, Philip Beadle, Graham Bennett, Elisabeth Buchanan, Karel Burrows, Rhonda Campbell, Denise Copeland, Bing Dawe, Julienne Frances, Christine King, Robert McDowell, Judy MacFarlane, Joanne MacKenzie, Sally Powell, John Prince, Glenda Randerson, Michael Reed, Gordon Sharp, Ola Swolf, Alison Ryde and Penny Walker.

Doreen, the founder and director of Art rentals (NZ) has divided her time between charity work with Zonta, (a service organisation for women in business focusing on advancing the status of women), home life raising two children, and the business of keeping her clients office environments dynamic and inviting, and sourcing new art that will suit the corporate image. The result is a collection of quality original art for the corporate and home environment.

We would like to help you with your interior design, improving your existing décor with original New Zealand artwork.

Our collection is continually updated. At present we own over 2000 paintings, prints drawings and sculptures from small to wall size, including stunning landscapes, great splashes of abstract colour, wonderful detail, delicate pastels in fact a whole range from which to choose. Our extensive customer base can choose from our vast and varied collection without bias. Our primary interest is that clients hire a picture they enjoy. If a client does fall in love with a painting in the collection, we own the art and thus we can consider the sale of a painting or sculpture and often arrange purchase terms.

The majority of our art is original and is from both recognised and emerging contemporary New Zealand artists. Businesses and homes that rent our art are seen to be supporting New Zealand artists while at the same time enhancing their premises.

The dream for the collection.

In 1903 in Boston, USA the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opened.

Today the Gardner Museum remains as it was created by Isabella Gardner with the help of friends. The general arrangement of the galleries that house an amazing art collection continue to reflect Isabella's eclecticism and imagination. The legacy is a home which has to remain as it was originally designed although the internal garden is replaced with new plantings each season. It has been said that Isabella was a remarkable woman who, when her only child died, suffered a long period of depression. In a effort to overcome this tragedy, Isabella began travelling with her husband John Lowell Gardner Jr. (Jack). Isabella and Jack's travels inspired a passion for art which began the collection and when in l891 Isabella's father left her his fortune she began a lengthy processes of planning and building a home to house the collection.

Visiting the museum is unlike any other experience of going to a gallery. There are no labels on any of the artworks so if you want to find out who created a particular artwork you need to ask one of the guides. The rules of the collection are so strict that when one of the paintings was stolen, by a thief cutting it out of the frame, the empty frame remains hanging in its original position.

Although our art collection did not have a tragic beginning, it has served to transform an English woman into a New Zealander who would like one day to follow Isabella Gardner's footsteps and design a home for the Art Rentals NZ collection in Christchurch.

©2010 Art Rentals (N.Z)