Interview of John Bevan Ford about the logo and artwork encorporated into the new Palmerston North City Library. Interviewer: Jacqueline Aust, community Relations Officer, Palmerston North City Council
Length: 1 hr 3 minutes
John Bevan Ford (c. 1930 - 2005) was one of New Zealand's best known Māori artists. He was acknowledged as an outstanding traditional carver as well as a leading figure in contemporary Māori art, and was internationally recognised. Ford was born in Christchurch. After time at Hamilton Teacher Training College as an art lecturer in the early 1970s, he moved to Palmerston North in the mid-1970s to the Māori studies department at Massey University, where he introduced a programme in Māori visual arts. In 1987, he took early retirement to work full-time as an artist from his home in Manawatū. Ford undertook a series of major public sculpture commissions for Palmerston North City Council and Massey University, and much of his work remains an integral part of the Palmerton North Central Library building in The Square, Palmerston North.
