Rotary clubs’ coffers have been boosted by $120,000 in the past eight years through the sale of calendars featuring New Zealand art.
The brainchild of Greg Molye and his partner Kristen Flannery, this project has involved producing New Zealand Art Calendars for the country’s 268 Rotary clubs to buy at cost and sell for a profit of around $5 each. As a founding director of NZ Financial Planning, Greg was able to secure their backing for the project.
Past President of the Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland Greg says the project has given him the opportunity to combine two passions - art and Rotary. He first joined Rotary in 1988, but his interest in art goes back much further.
“I’m not an artist - but right from my days at school, I’ve been interested in art and art history … I’ve been fortunate in being able to buy what I liked - I buy what I can afford at the time and what I like. Probably over the years I’ve collected over 800 paintings,” he explained, adding that he is motivated by his long-standing interest in art, not the idea of investing in art.
A design feature of the calendars is that there is no “in your face” advertising for New Zealand Financial Planning, just one small logo alongside the Rotary logo on the cover page. Similarly there is very little that advertises Rotary, with the exception of two pages preceding January that succinctly outline Rotary and the work that it does helping people internationally and locally. And monthly Rotary themes are discreetly placed on each month’s page.
All the calendars, for the whole eight years, have featured original New Zealand art from his G J Moyle Collection, with paintings carefully chosen to reflect the month and season of the year, and a war-related painting in April, respecting ANZAC Day.
Greg also has 200 war paintings on display at the Auckland Memorial War Museum, more than 50 at Mount Albert Grammar, some at NZ Financial Planning, and three on loan to the Christchurch Art Gallery as part of the military artist’s, Matt Gaulvie’s, exhibition.
Owning an ever-enlarging collection creates problems that are beginning to discourage Greg from adding to his collection. “I’m probably slowing down a bit now - how do you store it? How do you display it?” he asks.
Art lovers who would like a 2011 calendar for $10 are invited to email jenny@akld.nzfp.co.nz.
