Chris Parkin | |
|---|---|
 Parkin in 2011 | |
| Born | Christopher Wilton Parkin 1948 (age 75–76) |
Christopher Wilton Parkin CNZM (born 1948) is a New Zealand businessman, art collector and philanthropist.
Chris Parkin | |
|---|---|
| Parkin in 2011 | |
| Born | Christopher Wilton Parkin 1948 (age 75–76) |
Christopher Wilton Parkin CNZM (born 1948) is a New Zealand businessman, art collector and philanthropist.
Parkin was born in Doncaster, England in 1948 and emigrated to New Zealand with his family in 1952. [1] He grew up in Waikanae and Ōtaki and attended Otaki College, graduating in 1966. [1] He studied geochemistry and business at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with a Master's degree with Honours and a Bachelor of Commerce. [1]
Parkin bought his first property for $12,500 at age 23, while still a student. He sold it for $30,000 a few years later. [2] [3]
After graduating from university Parkin found work with a manufacturing business. [3] Two years later he moved to Development Finance Corporation as a financial analyst, and later convinced his employer to open an office in San Francisco. [3]
In 1979 Parkin and his second wife moved to California for his work as a business analyst. [2] Parkin spent four years in the US marketing New Zealand's export tax incentives to US businesses. [3] He returned from the US to Wellington in 1983 and invested in more property – blocks of apartments which he renovated and sold. [2] [3]
Parkin took over management of the Museum Hotel in October 1990 and bought the building from the Government in 1992. [4] In 1993 he moved the hotel on rails to a new location in Cable Street. [4] Parkin sold the hotel in 2015. [5]
Parkin had left-wing views when he started university, but after studying economics his views moved further right and he ended up as branch chairman for the ACT party in 1994. [2] [3] Parkin stated in 2020 that he was a socialist until he understood more about human nature. "You realise the futility of any political system that depends totally for its success on the goodwill of people towards others. It's human nature that stops socialism from ever succeeding. It doesn't have a chance." [2]
Parkin was a Wellington city councillor for the Lambton Ward from 1995 to 2004, when he chose to stand down. [1] [6]
Parkin has been a board member of The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and served in several charitable and public organisations including the St James Theatre Trust, Wellington Venues Ltd, the New Zealand Affordable Arts Trust and the Hannah Playhouse Trust. [7]
In 2001 Parkin helped set up a scholarship to Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School. [8] This was awarded annually until 2014, and covered a year's tuition fees plus a monthly allowance. [9] [10]
In 2005 Parkin gave $100,000 to the Wellington Sculpture Trust for a sculpture to be placed outside his Museum Hotel. [11] The sculpture, Per Capita, was installed in December 2006. [12]
In 2012 Parkin founded the Parkin Drawing Prize in association with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. [13] This national art competition is open to New Zealand citizens and permanent residents. The winner of the Parkin Drawing Prize receives $25,000, increased from $20,000 when the Prize was first awarded in 2013. [14] [13]
In 2019 Parkin gave $120,000 to Boosted, a crowdfunding platform for artists, to build a better site. [15]
Also in 2019, Parkin donated $1 million towards a planned national music centre in Wellington's Civic Square. The donation included $250,000 for an artwork to be commissioned for the space. [2] [16]
Parkin was named 'Wellingtonian of the Year' in 1993 for his efforts to shift the Museum Hotel to a new location. [7]
In 1995 Parkin was given an Award for Distinguished Service by Victoria University, for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of Victoria University of Wellington". [17]
In the 2011 Queen's Birthday honours list, Parkin was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and the arts. [10] [18]
Parkin has been married three times and has two children with his second wife. [2]
Porirua, a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide sweeping up both reaches". It almost completely surrounds Porirua Harbour at the southern end of the Kāpiti Coast. As of 2023, Porirua has a population of 62,400 people, and is a diverse city with 26.5% of the population identifying as Pasifika and 23.0% of the population identifying as Māori.
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Wellington City Libraries is the public library service for Wellington, New Zealand.
Merwyn Norrish was a New Zealand diplomat who served as New Zealand's ambassador to the European Community, acting high commissioner to London, ambassador to the United States, and secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Tungia Dorothea Gloria Baker was a New Zealand actor, weaver, and administrator. Her notable acting roles included Ngahuia in the 1980s television drama Open House and Hira in the 1993 film The Piano. Baker was influential in contemporary Māori theatre, Māori film making and Māori arts. She named the Taki Rua Theatre, and was a founding member of Māori artists' collectives Te Manu Aute and Haeata.
Elizabeth Fiona Knox is a New Zealand writer. She has authored several novels for both adults and teenagers, autobiographical novellas, and a collection of essays. One of her best-known works is The Vintner's Luck (1998), which won several awards, has been published in ten languages, and was made into a film of the same name by Niki Caro in 2009. Knox is also known for her young adult literary fantasy series, Dreamhunter Duet. Her most recent novels are Mortal Fire and Wake, both published in 2013, and The Absolute Book, published in 2019.
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John Maxwell Cryer, generally known as Max Cryer, was a New Zealand television producer and presenter, radio broadcaster, entertainment producer, singer, cabaret performer and writer.
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The International Institute of Modern Letters is a centre of creative writing based within Victoria University of Wellington. Founded in 2001, the IIML offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses and has taught many leading New Zealand writers. It publishes the annual Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems anthology and an online journal, and offers several writing residencies. Until 2013 the IIML was led by the poet Bill Manhire, who had headed Victoria's creative writing programme since 1975; since his retirement, Damien Wilkins has taken over as the IIML's director.
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St John's Church in Willis Street, Wellington, New Zealand, is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 1 Historic Place. Designed by Thomas Turnbull, it opened on 11 December 1885 to replace an earlier church destroyed by fire in 1884. It was registered as a historic place on 18 March 1982, with registration number 228.
Gear Homestead, named Okowai by its owner James Gear, is a historic building in Porirua, New Zealand. It was listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category 2 historic place in 1983.
Elizabeth Welch Orr was a New Zealand lecturer and a previous Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington. Orr was also a trade union leader and advocate for pay equity.
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