“This position enables me to enable others”

Storytelling is at the core of anyone who desires to create. No matter the medium or platform, this social or visual form of communication connects anyone who engages within the content. 

But who’s the middleman who brings artists and their art and ties them together to create an exhibition.   

Hollie Tawhiao manages and curates Ramp Gallery which is a contemporary art gallery located on Collingwood Street in Wintec city campus, Hamilton. This role enables her to reach out and connect with art communities, artists and people who might want to exhibit their work in the gallery.  

A large portion of being a curator is exhibiting a cultured environment within the gallery space, this is where Tawhiao passion shines. 

“I love storytelling but that’s given when you’re a curator or involved with any field of art because you’re trying to get a story across” 

Wendy Richdale, a team manager at Wintec, was a part of the recruitment team and process when hiring Hollie Tawhiao in 2021. 

Richdale explains, Tawhiao has a lot of experience creating her own business, working in creative industries, developing innovative art, and an art trail at University of Waikato.

As well as this, Tawhiao did a lot of volunteering at the Waikato University gallery space as she was interested in developing her ideas. 

While working at Wintec, Tawhiao continued volunteering at the university gallery as she had a project to finished. 

Richdale says “She’s really dedicated to the history that has come before her, but looking at ways to be contemporary and move forward as an artist and as a curator where she treasures and looks after artist work as well as careers. She’s in a really nice position to do so”  

While working with art, she also creates her own specialising in painting, carving, and sculpting. In 2021, Tawhioa entered the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award with a painting of her ancestor Rangiaho and became a finalist with the national portrait gallery in Wellington. This exhibition is currently displayed at Hamilton Museum and will make its way down to Otago next. 

Richdale explains “Hollie is a very busy, active person as she does art research and study, as well as being a mum, so she can fit a lot in.”  This is presented in her portraiture award as she’s a finalist and has been involved in other exhibitions, as well as her amazing effort studying towards her master’s degree.

Tawhioa completed an undergraduate degree in fine arts, as well as a postgraduate degree in museum studies. She quickly realised being able to present cultural items is what she thoroughly loved and enjoyed doing. 

“Being able to contribute to that cultural environment is really cool, and so if I wasn’t making art I would be showing it in someway” 

However, living a busy life as a mum of two and two stepchildren, Tawhioa doesn’t have much time to practise while balancing work and motherhood.  

For the meantime, Tawhiao is co-curating an exhibition with other galleries, as Hamilton only has small galleries, and not a big one.  

“It’s just a lot of organising, paperwork, and a few openings, except it’s a lot of fun” 

Being involved or creating art is always an exciting and an educational journey with different cultures and the hidden connotations behind each artist, and their work. As it tells a story, and storytelling is what inspires creatives to create. 

Although Richdale doesn’t directly work with Tawhiao, she is her manager and used to work as Ramp gallery’s curator.  Overall Richdale as enjoyed watching Tawhioa’s passion grow and looks forwards for the future of her artistic and curator career. Not only this, Richdale explained her busy life as a mum and what she does with her own practice in her own time, has not gone unnoticed.