2026 LECTURE PROGRAMME

March Series: - "The Visual Arts"

March 6 "A career in the creative industry" by Anthony Elworthy

Anthony has worked as a professional stop-motion animator in NZ and internationally for nearly 30 years, with credits on numerous major films. For the last seven years he has worked as Animation Director on the internationally successful children' TV show Kiri & Lou. He has also worked as a freelance illustrator of children's books, and in 2024 published his first novel for middle-grade readers.

March 13 "The international art market, Nazi plunder (?) and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery!" by

by Cam McCracken

Cam is the director of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, of Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, of Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Garden, and of Olveston Historic Home. He is an experienced leader in the cultural sector, having held previous directorships in museums or art galleries in Wellington, Auckland and the Waikato.

March 20 "The art of the landscape and other aestheticisms" by Christopher Thompson

Christopher is an artist, graphic designer & photographer, and is the owner of The Picture Lounge photographic gallery in Wanaka. He studied Graphic Design at AUT and Psychology at Auckland University. He has worked in the fashion and hospitality industries, and has created wine brands for some of our leading wine makers. He came to photography relatively 'late' in his career first picking up a camera in 2005, and his camera accompanies him on kayaking, tramping and back-country excursions

March 27 "Visual Alchemy" by Neil Driver

Neil is a Clyde based "realist" painter who draws his inspiration from the Central Otago landscapes. He uses many layers of thin acrylic paint to slowly build up the tone & colour of his work. Neil often changes reality by reassembling and altering elements within each painting, so what at first sight appears to be a photograph-like image is in fact a reordering of the actual scene. His career started in 1973 and he has exhibited regularly throughout New Zealand, but principally in Auckland's Parnell Gallery and Studio of Contemporary Art

April One-Off Lecture:

April 24 Wills & Trusts

May Series: - "Wanaka has issues: a controversial series"

May 1 "Infrastructure, urban sprawl, identity, where are Upper Clutha's communities heading?" by Quentin Smith, Deputy Mayor QLDC and elected member for the Wanaka-Upper Clutha Ward

Quentin brings a background in environmental management, recreation, planning & local government. He is passionate about managing Wanaka's extraordinary growth, and is committed to a well-informed, strategic approach to planning. His message is that growth is not just something happening to Wanaka, it is something the community must understand, plan for, and shape carefully if it wants to protect what makes the place special.

May 8 "Education: can we teach our children well enough, into the future?" by Nicola Jacobsen and and a panel of four other local school principals

How do teachers cope with today's world of education: the impact of Ministry decisions on curriculum and assessment, and on funding special assistance for pupils; evolving technology; the nature of parental expectations; health and safety requirements on activities beyond the classroom; and the changing student body.

May 15 "The 'AF8' - are we going to be trashed by natural hazards" Professor Caroline Orchiston, Director of the Centre for Sustainability Research, University of Otago

The AF8 - a Magnitude 8 earthquake along the Alpine Fault, projected to occur within 50 years, is a local risk for the Upper Clutha for which we must plan. Additional risks are also posed by local faults, even closer to Wanaka which will affect roads, bridges, buildings, pipe line and power lines and perhaps tailing dams.

May 22 "Planning Matters" Amy Bowbyes & Corrine Frischkneckt, Senior Policy Planners with the QLDC

This session will cover QLDC District and Spatial plans; the statutory process for plan changes; recent Central Government directives regarding growth; and will wrap up with a summary of where things are heading with the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill current before a Select Committee

June

July Series “China”

July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 TBA

October Series "Digital Media/AI/Drones"

October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 TBA

The Committee aims to keep the lecture programmes stimulating and current, and reserves the right to change the

above 2026 Programme as required by events and/or the availability of the speakers.

The above titles for the lecture series are working titles and may change as the content is firmed up.

It is anticipated that there will be some three One-off talks during 2026, in the months without scheduled series.

Unless noted otherwise, all lectures are held at:

Wanaka Presbyterian Church Hall at 91 Tenby St, Wanaka,
from 10:00am until noon.

Venue space restrictions require that members must register for each lecture that they wish to attend, when the series announcement is emailed to members three weeks before the series commences, with enrolments due one week

before the series commencement.