April 2022

Jack Richards is an active supporter of musical and cultural initiatives and activities in New Zealand. In 2014 he received the prestigious Award for Patronage 2014, by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, acknowledging his support for music and the arts.

Past and current support includes;

Benefactor of the National Music Centre, to be built in Wellington
Patron and sponsor of the New Zealand National Guitar Competition
Grants to the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to support young New Zealand opera singers
Co-sponsor of the Composer in Residence Program at the New Zealand School of Music
Provision of travel scholarships for semi-finalists in the Chamber Music New Zealand School Chamber Music Competition
Sponsor of three CDs by New Zealand musicians – Tony Chen Lin, Lixin Zhang and Tony Yan Tong Chen
Sponsored book on the life of composer Jack Body
Numerous commissions for New Zealand composers, including Jack Body, Jenny McLeod, John Psathas
Commissioning of piano concertos by Gareth Farr, Lyell Cresswell, and Gao Ping which were performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Scholarships and financial support for students in the New Zealand School of Music and in the School of Applied Language Studies, Victoria University
Financing for the production of a video of Jenny Macleod’s opera “Hohepa”
Sponsorship of participation by young New Zealand musicians in the Edith Fischer Academy, Blonay Switzerland
Provision of scholarships for students enrolled in the Toihokura program in contemporary Maori Art, Gisborne
Initiation of the Ruanuku Award for excellent in contemporary Maori Art, enabling the Tairāwhiti Museum to acquire a major collection of art by local artists
Support for the Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, Gisborne
Purchase of works by local and national artists for the collection of Tairāwhiti Museum
Funding of an award in the Te Ha Art Awards competition at Tairāwhiti museum
Funding of improvements to the Tairāwhiti Museum
Funding of a new gallery at the Tairāwhiti Museum – the Jack C Richards Decorative Arts Gallery – the only gallery of its kind in any New Zealand Museum
Grant to support upgrades at Whangara Marae
The major private sponsor for renovations of the Toko Toru Tapu Church at Manutuke – one of the most important buildings of its kind in New Zealand due to the significance of its carved panels
One of the major private sponsors of renovations to the Gisborne War Memorial Theater
Grants to support the local chapter of Chamber Music New Zealand
Commissioning of art pieces by Gisborne artists for installation in the Gisborne War Memorial Theater
Significant contributor to renovations to the Dawson Field Theater, Gisborne
Patron and major sponsor of the Gisborne International Music Competition
Sponsor of a series of annual summer concerts in support of the Gisborne International Music Competition
Sponsor a series of winter concerts in the Tairāwhiti Museum, Gisborne, featuring student musicians from the New Zealand School of Music.
Commissioning of sculptures for public spaces in Gisborne

The reasoning behind my decision to close down the Jack C Richards Decorative Arts Gallery at The Tairāwhiti Museum, Gisborne

On 23 December 2011 the Museum and I signed an agreement that the museum trust would build an extension, to be known as ‘the Richards Gallery’ to be funded by Jack Richards at a cost of some $350,000.

The agreement stated that the gallery would primarily be used for the purpose of housing and displaying objects on loan from Jack Richards’ collection, but also items from the Museum’s own collection and touring exhibitions. The agreement also specified that items from the Richards collection would be displayed in a different section of the gallery from items from the museum collection. The MOU states:

“The museum may exhibit items other than Jack Richards collection for up to four months each year in the general exhibition component of the gallery”.

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