Curator’s talk – Tribute: Portraits from the collection of Avenal McKinnon

Take the opportunity to hear curator, Helen Kedgley, talk about the late Avenal McKinnon (nee Gough), the long-time Director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, art historian, writer, and curator. Helen will talk about Avenal's unique and highly personal art collection, especially the works in the significant exhibition at Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House, as well as her contribution to the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.

Currently working as a freelance curator, Helen Kedgley was Senior Curator and then Director of Pataka Art + Museum from 1998 until 2015 and Acting Director of the NZ Portrait Gallery from 2016 - 2017. A graduate of Victoria University, Massey University, the Ecole National Superieure des Beaux Arts and the Ecole du Louvre, Helen was granted a Distinguished Alumni Award from Victoria University, Wellington in 2015. Helen is a Trustee of the Wellington Sculpture Trust, the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, the Pataka Foundation and the Blumhardt Foundation.