“Ko 'Falling Water' te tāraitanga mētara tuatahi a Fred Graham, tētahi o ngā hautipua o te ao mahi toi Māori hou, i ara ake i ngā ngahuru tau o te 1950 me te 1960. I takea mai te ranga wairua o tea o mahi toi hou nei ētahi kāwai e rua, arā, ko te toi Māori tuku iho a ngā tīpuna, me te toi hou o Ūropi. E āta kitea ana ēnei awaenga e rua i te mahinga toi nei.

Ko te wai ka puhapuha mai i ngā kōrere porotaka, e tohu ana i ngā kōawa iti ka rere atu ki te awa matua, koia ko te waka wai o raro, e rima ōna puhanga wai porohita haurua. Ko tā Fred Graham, “o ngā āhuatanga katoa o te awa, ko te horowai pea te mea whakamīharo rawa atu”. Ko te wai e pūrena ana I te tapa raro o te tāraitanga e tohu ana I tērā.

I māpura ake te manawa reka o Fred Graham ki te toi whakairo me te toi tārai, i te wā e mahi ana ia hei pūkenga toi ki Te Kura Whakangungu Kaiako o Papaioea, i waenganui i te 1957 me te 1962. He mea tono te tāraitanga nei a 'Falling Water' e ōna hoa, e Betty rāua ko Bill Clarke, mō tō rāua mōtera hou, te Alpha Motor Inn, i whakatūria I te kokonga o Victoria me Broadway i Papaioea i te tau 1970. Ka whakakitea i reira tae atu ki te tau 2015, te wā i hokona atu te mōtera, ā, ka turakina tētahi wāhanga ōna. Ka hokona te mahi toi nei hei taonga mā Papaioea i te tau 2017, ka whakahoungia i te 2019, kātahi ka whakatūria ki konei i te 2020, e 50 tau i muri i tōna orokohanga mai."

- Source: information panel installed with the work

"'Falling Water' is the first metal sculpture created by Fred Graham, one of the pioneers of the Contemporary Māori Art Movement that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. This movement drew inspiration from two distinct artistic traditions, customary Māori art and European Modernism, the influences of which can be seen in the form of this work.

Water coming out of the circular spouts symbolises small streams, which flow together into a river, embodied by the copper trough with five semi-circular spouts. And as Fred Graham states, “of the many features on the river, perhaps the most impressive is the waterfall”, represented by water spilling over the bottom edge of the sculpture.

Fred Graham’s interest in carving and sculpture was sparked while he was an art lecturer at Palmerston North Teachers Training College between 1957 and 1962. 'Falling Water' was commissioned by friends Betty and Bill Clarke for the Modernist-inspired Alpha Motor Inn, built on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Broadway in Palmerston North in 1970. It was displayed there until 2015, when the motel was sold and partly demolished. The work was bought for the city in 2017 and restored in 2019 before being installed here in 2020, 50 years after it was first created.”

- Source: information panel installed with the work

Bill and Betty Clarke were friends of the artist, and also commissioned others to paint works for the motel unit interiors. The sculpture was designed to operate continuously as a water feature, however, the pump installed with the work proved too noisy to use when the adjacent room was being let, so it was often turned off.

In 2015 part of the motel building was demolished and the sculpture was subsequently put into storage. Many members of the local community raised concern that the artwork was no longer on public display. As a result, in 2017 the Palmerston North City Council, in a three-way partnership with the Te Manawa Art Society and the Palmerston North Sculpture Trust, procured the artwork from then-owner of the motel building, Wallace Development Company.

The work was conserved with the help of funding from the NZ Lotteries Grants Board and re-launched with the help of Fred Graham and his son Brett on 6 July 2021.

The work comprises seven copper forms that were originally mounted on asbestos board, but are now on a black hinged frame.

Further reading:

• Notable Fred Graham sculpture purchased by Palmerston North, Richard Mays, Manawatu Standard, 25 Oct 2017