Marilyn Rea-Menzies

Marilyn Rea-Menzies was born in Westport where she grew up on the family farm. She was the eldest of nine children to parents Alan and Meg Rea. Interested in painting and drawing since early childhood she completed her preliminary diploma in fine arts by correspondence before training as a teacher in Christchurch.

She moved back to the West Coast on completion of her training and taught for a brief time before marrying David Menzies in 1965. Originally remaining in Westport where they had their first child, they left in the 1970s and moved around New Zealand with Peter being a dairy board worker, first to Te Puke, Wairoa, and then Tauranga. In Tauranga they raised their five children.

In 1980 she decided to try something new and took up tapestry. Self-taught in both tapestry and weaving, she developed a new passion in creating pictures using wool and fibre.

Rea-Menzies separated from her husband in 1985, and it was then she resolved to begin her artistic career in earnest. In 1985 she founded Viewpoint Studio in collaboration with American stained glass artist, Steven van Ronk. It was a cooperative environment for creative people to work in Tauranga, and was also running a weaving supply business. At this time, she was one of the few professional tapestry weavers in the country.

In 1990 she moved to Picton where she established Glenora Craft and an international weaving school in partnership with Australian weaver, Birgitte Armstrong.

In 1994 she moved to Christchurch and set up a public studio in the Christchurch Arts Centre, the Christchurch Tapestry Workshop, made possible by an Arts Council grant.

Rea-Menzies moved to Hamilton in 2013 after the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 to be closer to family. However, in 2019 she decided it was time to go back to her home in Westport.

Considered one of New Zealand’s leading textile artists and teachers, and one of a few who creates large-scale public works. She has been the recipient of numerous major awards, grants and public commissions. Over the years Rea-Menzies has exhibited in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as Australia and Canada. With collections hanging in churches, museums and cultural centres throughout New Zealand, the United States and Japan. Many of her works are inspired by the New Zealand landscape.

“Rea-Menzies describes the work as “very physical”, she forces herself to step up from the loom every half an hour to avoid back problems. And on “fast work” she can create a square foot of tapestry a day.”

[Source: Nelson Evening Mail, 22 June 1994]

Her major commissions and exhibitions include: The woven mural for the Centennial Theatre, Baycourt, Tauranga (1983-1985); ‘Jesus at the Mount’, St Thomas Moore, Mt Maunganui, (1987); ‘Women of Marlborough’, Marlborough District Council (1995); a solo exhibition at the Suter Gallery, Nelson (1994); Merino Exhibition, Conference Centre, Christchurch (1997); a solo exhibition at the Soliloquy Gallery, Mt Eden, Auckland (1998); ‘Tapestry for Two’ with Bev Ward, Geraldine (1998); in charge of the Christchurch Millennium Tapestry (2000); a screen for Government House Wellington (2011); a touring solo exhibition, ‘Extinction is forever’ was first shown in Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, October 2018, Arts in Oxford Gallery, Hamilton, February/March 2020; Pataka Art+Museum, February/March 2021; Left Bank Gallery Greymouth, April/May 2021, and finally from out of the Blue Studio Opunake, April/May 2023.

Rea-Menzies continues to live and work in Westport, where she runs a studio and gallery from her home. She is currently working on a follow up exhibition from Extinction is Forever. Titled ‘Nature’s Symphony - A visual Journey through our Forests’, it will be shown at the Left Bank Gallery in March 2026, and from there to the Chamber in Rangiora and the Ashburton Art Gallery.

See also:

• Marilyn Rea Menzies, Curriculum Vitae [PDF]
• Marilyn Rea-Menzies - Wikipedia
• Rea-Menzies, Marilyn (Find NZ Artists database)
• Marilyn Rea-Menzies (artist’s website)
• Marilyn Rea-Menzies - Artist/Tapestry Weaver (artist's Facebook page)
• Marilyn Rea-Menzies (artist's Instagram page)