A guardian of endangered species now sits peacefully in her new home next to the Maitai River.
The sculpture Sanctuary by Fiona Sutherland has been relocated from its temporary home in Founders Heritage Park to the new park on the Maitai Walkway.
Sutherland said Sanctuary was a girl holding a takahe like a protector of wildlife.
Her dress is inlaid with ceramic fish, flax and native birds found in the Maitai area. The ceramic tiles are in layers on the sculpture to signify how they appear in nature, with fish at the bottom and butterflies at the top.
Sutherland, who also teaches art at Nelson Intermediate and Nelson College Prep, said the idea for the layers of native flora and fauna came from the environmental group at Nelson Intermediate.
She had asked the group for ideas on what they would make based on the brief she had from Nelson City Council.
“I thought that was a fantastic idea and put that into the sculpture.”
Sutherland said she loved seeing her work in its new home.
“It’s really nice. It’s got a really lovely backdrop. It’s so beautiful. I wanted her colours to blend in with the background. I’m really happy with it.”
The work had been outside the Montessori at Founders and the children there really loved her.
The sculpture is made from cement mixed with a paper/clay medium called darjit which was put over a steel frame.
This is the same process she used in her two other public sculptures in Nelson – the Goddess of Flight at Nelson Airport, which can be seen outside the departure lounge window, and the two boys with a heron at Orphanage Creek near Saxton Field.
The new $3.6 million Maitai Walkway aims to link the city and the marina better and to make the area more attractive.
A Nelson City Council spokeswoman said the addition of artwork on the walkway added to the work already done and also aimed to make it an appealing place to visit.
She said ideas for future artworks were still being investigated but one option being looked at was to have a selection of artworks to be displayed in rotation.