We wanted the Aoraki Art Fund to do more than hold money, we wanted it to keep working for visual art in South Canterbury, year after year.

That is why we chose to establish the fund with the Aoraki Foundation, South Canterbury’s community foundation. Aoraki Foundation helps local people and organisations create long-term funds for the causes they care about. It provides the professional investment management, governance and administration needed to look after those funds over time.

For the Friends, that makes good sense. We can concentrate on why the Aoraki Art Fund exists, supporting visual art, encouraging good ideas and helping people connect with Aigantighe Art Gallery. Aoraki Foundation takes care of the long-term management and investment of the fund.

Just as importantly, it gives us a way for the benefit of local generosity to keep working here in South Canterbury. Money earned, saved or built during one generation can continue making a difference long after the original gift has been made. Rather than doing good only once, a gift can become part of a fund designed to generate support for the years ahead.

That feels especially fitting as we celebrate 50 years of the Friends. We have benefited from the generosity and foresight of people who came before us. The Aoraki Art Fund gives our generation the chance to do the same for those who come next.

The Friends provide the purpose. Aoraki Foundation provides the stewardship.

Together, we are building a fund with the potential to keep supporting visual art in South Canterbury well beyond our 50th anniversary.