Dame Doreen Blumhardt, ONZ

Order of New Zealand

The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in New Zealand's honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity"...

, DNZM

New Zealand Order of Merit

The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...

, CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (7 March 1914 — 17 October 2009) was a New Zealand potter

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

, ceramicist and arts educator

Art education

Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...

.

Career

A pioneer of art education and was head of the Art Department of Wellington College of Education for over 20 years, Blumhardt's works are included in many overseas galleries and institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum

Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...

 in London and the Museo Gaccia in Switzerland as well as in her home nation of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

She completed publications on craft, including New Zealand Potters: Their Work and Words and Craft New Zealand, the Art of the Craftsman (1981), which won the Watties Book of the Year award.

In 2003, she set up the Blumhardt Foundation, which was established to foster, support, collect, and display the best examples of decorative arts and design in New Zealand. Every year, the Foundation, TheNewDowse (previously The Dowse Art Museum), and Creative New Zealand

Creative New Zealand

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

 offer a Cultural Internship, providing opportunities for artists to nurture curatorial interest and expertise in the areas of decorative arts and design.

External links

• Order of NZ Biographical Notes
• New Zealand Herald Obituary
• Dominion Post Obituary
• Blumhardt, Doreen at Te Papa
  Te Papa
  Te Papa can signify:* Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum of New Zealand, located in Wellington* Te Papa, Tuvalu, a cape on Nanumanga, Tuvalu...