Todd Energy Makes Generous Pledge to Len Lye Centre

The Len Lye Centre project has attracted an outstanding corporate supporter, with the announcement of a $2.5 million contribution from Todd Energy towards the construction of the building.

The announcement was made on September 15, 2011 by John Todd, Chairman Todd Corporation, at the opening of Todd Energy’s new McKee LPG Plant in Taranaki.

Todd Energy has also pledged an additional $100,000 a year for five years for an innovative education programme for the combined facility of the Len Lye Centre and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, bringing their total contribution to $3 million.

Todd Energy’s support joins $4 million from the central government’s Regional Museum Policy fund, $500,000 from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board: Environment and Heritage and $1 million from TSB Community Trust, bringing the total raised to date far for the construction of the Len Lye Centre to $8 million towards a $10 million goal.

The Len Lye Centre will be the new home for the care, research, preservation, display and engagement with the art and ideas of pioneer New Zealand-born modernist filmmaker and kinetic artist Len Lye (1901-1980).

New Plymouth District Mayor Harry Duynhoven said Todd Energy’s support is exceptional and one of the largest single capital contributions for the arts from the corporate sector in New Zealand.

“We are delighted and most grateful for Todd Energy’s support for this exciting project. It is an excellent example of a public and private partnership that will deliver outstanding economic and cultural benefits for the community,” said Mayor Harry Duynhoven.

John Todd, Chairman Todd Corporation, said that the contribution to the Len Lye Centre reflects the company's long-term involvement in the Taranaki region. “We are pleased to partner an innovative project that will have such a positive impact on the local community as well as being a draw card nationally and internationally. We congratulate the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), the Len Lye Foundation and the Govett-Brewster, and we look forward to working with them to achieve this unique building and education programme.”

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says that Todd Energy’s ongoing commitment to the education programme will enable the combined facility of the Len Lye Centre and the Govett-Brewster to greatly enhance its successful education programme in innovative ways.

“Todd Energy’s valuable support will enable us to deliver an expanded and inter-disciplinary education programme with relevance to science, technology, design, media studies and music, as well as art,” says Ms Devenport. “Todd Energy’s support will also contribute towards developing tool kits for the classroom, artists in schools workshops throughout Taranaki and a community connection programme to offer accessible and highly interactive programmes for Maori and Pasifika, youth, seniors, families, disabled communities and multicultural community groups.”

NPDC Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow says that this announcement now means that 80 percent of the funds towards the Len Lye Centre have been achieved. “This amount now allows us to instruct the architects to progress the detailed design to ensure that the project can be delivered on time in accordance with the timeframe set out in the Council’s Long Term Plan; the building of the Len Lye Centre is expected to begin in late 2012, with an estimated completion date of late 2014.”

The Len Lye Centre, designed by the award-winning architectural firm Patterson Associates, will be built adjacent to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and will operate as a unique combined facility with the gallery.

The Len Lye Centre project is a collaboration between the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand’s foremost contemporary art museum, its owner and operator NPDC, and the Len Lye Foundation who own the Len Lye Collection and Archive.

Len Lye: All Souls Carnival, the largest retrospective of Lye’s work presented to date at the Govett-Brewster, is on at the gallery until 27 November 2011.

Todd Energy
Todd Energy is 100 percent New Zealand owned and operated and is a leading energy producer and provider focused on meeting New Zealand’s energy demands well into the future. As the only truly vertically integrated energy company in New Zealand, Todd Energy owns and operates its own natural gas, oil, LPG, electricity, cogeneration and solar hot water heating assets, enabling Todd Energy to manage the entire flow of energy from gas field to customer or from hydro generation to household. Employing over 300 dedicated staff Todd Energy continues to push the boundaries to deliver total energy solutions to our industrial, commercial and residential customers.

Len Lye
Len Lye (1901-1980) is one of the most important artists to have emerged from New Zealand. Legendary amongst experimental filmmakers, his ‘direct’ films made by painting and scratching on celluloid were part of Lye’s prescient vision for a new ‘art of movement’. His dynamic, motorised steel sculptures of the 1960s express a creative energy that Lye brought to film, painting, photography and poetry. The Len Lye Collection and Archive is housed and cared for by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in partnership with the Len Lye Foundation.

Lye's sculptures are found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Berkeley Art Museum. His films are held primarily at the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington and also in archives at the British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley.
Lye’s 45m-high kinetic sculpture Wind Wand has featured on New Plymouth’s Coastal Walkway since 2000, and Water Whirler has featured on Wellington’s waterfront since 2006.

Patterson Associates
Patterson Associates are acknowledged as New Zealand’s most internationally known architects. Their projects range from complex developments and urban infrastructure through to bespoke residential homes and three-dimensional strategic thinking. Established by Andrew Patterson in 1996, the firm is committed to sustainable methodology, innovative use of materials and creating simple, beautiful projects that encourage people to engage on many levels.

Pattersons, based in Auckland, designed the Michael Hill Clubhouse in Wakatipu which was selected as one of the nine best sports and leisure buildings in the world at the Barcelona World Architecture Awards in 2008. Pattersons are also multiple recipients of The New Zealand Institute of Architects’ NZ Supreme Award for Architecture. Another of Pattersons’ recent projects, the Geyser building in Auckland, has achieved New Zealand’s first six Green Star – Office Design certified rating. Six stars signify world leadership in sustainability.

Patterson Associates was named in May 2011 by prestigious publication World Architecture News in their 21 for 21 programme as one of five selected international architectural practices that are “set to shape the future of architecture in the 21st Century”. Renowned New Zealand architect Sir Miles Warren, often cited as the father of New Zealand architecture has said about the design for the Len Lye Centre: “Pattersons have designed a stunning building, a superb concept worthy to house and enhance Len Lye’s work.”

The Len Lye Centre
The Len Lye Centre is a partnership between NPDC, the Len Lye Foundation and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. It will be run as a combined facility with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and will offer a unique and complimentary programme of exhibitions and public engagement. The centre and gallery will share a management team and operating costs as well as facilities such as the education suite and commercial facilities including the Art and Design Shop and cafe.

Len Lye Foundation
Shortly before Len Lye’s death in 1980, arrangements were made to establish the Len Lye Foundation. In accordance with the artist’s Deed of Trust, his collection of work returned to New Zealand, the country of his birth.

Lye’s archives, sculpture, painting, textiles, and photographic work are housed at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth, where regular exhibitions of his work are held. The New Zealand Film Archive is the repository of the Len Lye Foundation’s film collection.
The Len Lye Foundation is registered in New Zealand as a non-profit incorporated society. Its function is to provide for the conservation, reproduction and promotion of the works of Len Lye and to make facilities available for research. The foundation holds copyright for much of the material it owns, and is empowered to issue prints of the artist’s films (where copyright and licence allow), authorise the publication of his written work, and to develop and edition reconstructions of his kinetic sculptures. From a vitally creative life of exploration and experiment, the foundation has inherited a substantial body of work. The existence of the Len Lye Foundation ensures that this work remains an active cultural force.