Beatrice Margaret Proffitt (née Hay; 23 September 1924 – 4 October 2016) was New Zealand designer.
Examples of her work are held in the permanent collection of
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
.
Biography
Hay was born in
Waimate, South Canterbury, and grew up on a farm.
She studied craft and design at the
Canterbury College School of Art in
Christchurch from 1943 to 1948; one of her tutors was
Francis Shurrock
Francis Aubrey Shurrock (1887–1977) was a notable New Zealand sculptor and art teacher. He was born in Warrington, Lancashire, England in 1887. He studied under Édouard Lantéri at the Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) ...
, a sculptor and a leading figure in the
Arts and Crafts movement in New Zealand. She also studied metal artwork and jewellery design and making with Johnny Johnstone.
Hay designed handblocked wallpaper and fabric. Pieces of her wallpapers and garments made from her fabric are held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
In 1950, at Knox Church, Waimate, Hay married Alan Thomas Proffitt, a civil engineer who later oversaw the design and construction of the
Wellington Urban Motorway
The Wellington Urban Motorway, part of SH 1, is the major road into and out of Wellington, New Zealand. It is 7 km long, ranges from three to seven lanes wide, and extends from the base of the Ngauranga Gorge into the Wellington CBD.
Fro ...
and construction of the
Terrace Tunnel.
The couple had five children.
Peggy Proffitt died in
Wellington on 4 October 2016,
having been predeceased by her husband in 2014.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Peggy
1924 births
2016 deaths
Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni
New Zealand designers
People from Waimate