Darcy John Nicholas (born 1945) is a New Zealand artist, writer and art administrator.

Art administration career

Nicholas opened his own art gallery in Lower Hutt in 1975. In 1981 he became director of the Wellington Arts Centre. In 1986 Nicholas was appointed director of the Central Regional Arts Council and in 1989 was appointed Assistant General Manager with the Iwi Transition Agency. Nicholas led the development of the

Pataka Art + Museum Pātaka Art + Museum is a municipal museum and art gallery of Porirua City, New Zealand. Te Marae o Te Umu Kai o Hau is the name of the building where Pātaka Museum + Art is located and opened in 1998. It also houses the Porirua City Library, Caf ...

complex in Porirua, which opened in 1998. He stepped down from his role as Pataka's director and Porirua City Council's community services general manager in 2012. Nicholas also established the Māori Art Market art fair in 2005 and has remained involved in the creative leadership of the event.

Artistic practice

Nicholas has been involved in the contemporary Māori art movement since the late 1960s. Nicholas spent 10 years with the New Zealand Police early in his career, but painted and exhibited during this time. In 1973 he decided to move into making art full-time. He has exhibited throughout New Zealand, Australia, Africa, United States, France, India, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, and Canada. Nicholas was commissioned to produce a sculpture for the opening of Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in 2015.

Awards and recognitions

*1984 Fulbright Scholarship to observe contemporary Native American and African America art in the United States * Queens Service Order for services to museums in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours *2013 Supreme Te Waka Toi award,

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

Personal life

Nicholas was born in Waitara in 1945. He lives in Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt. Nicholas is of Māori (

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with around 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and aro ...

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori people, Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Waihi Beach, Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to ...

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

Ngāti Ruanui Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the traditional areas of the iwi. History Early his ...

Ngāti Hauā Ngāti Hauā is a Māori people, Māori iwi of the eastern Waikato of New Zealand. It is part of the Tainui confederation. Its traditional area includes Matamata, Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, Maungakawa, the Horotiu district along the Wai ...

) and European descent.

References

Living people 1945 births Te Āti Awa people Ngāti Ruanui people New Zealand police officers New Zealand Māori artists Companions of the Queen's Service Order Ngāi Te Rangi people Taranaki (iwi) People from Waitara, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand sculptors 20th-century New Zealand male artists 21st-century New Zealand sculptors People educated at Waitara High School Fulbright alumni {{NewZealand-artist-stub

Art administration career

Artistic practice

Awards and recognitions

Personal life

Further reading

References