The beaches and shores of Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula have long played a significant role in local people’s affection for the area. Te Onepoto / Taylors Mistake became a magnet to many artists from the 1920s on. Increasingly attuned to the distinctive ambience and character of the nearby environment, they seemed to express a growing sense of psychological or spiritual belonging. William Reed was a student at Canterbury College School of Art. He and fellow student Russell Clark, whose work also features in this exhibition, often spent weekends together roaming or cycling in pursuit of subject matter.

(Te Wheke, 2020)