Sir Chris Parkin, of Wellington, KNZM for services to philanthropy and the arts
Sir Chris Parkin has contributed as an entrepreneur, as an art patron, to local government and to the hospitality industry and was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011 for these contributions.
Since 2011, Sir Chris has continued his support for the arts and his philanthropic endeavours. In 2013 he established the Parkin Drawing Prize, a national art competition which has since awarded more than $300,000 in prize money, mostly to emerging artists. He is the principal financial supporter of the arts funding website ‘Boosted’, which has to date raised in excess of $16 million to fund more than 2,000 creative projects across all arts genres.
He has sat on several arts-associated bodies and boards and was a Board member of Tourism New Zealand from 2014 to 2018. As an art collector, more than 150 of his pieces are displayed at the QT Hotel Wellington, which he previously owned as the Museum Art Hotel. Sir Chris received the 2020 Philanthropy Showcase award at the 2021 Wellingtonian of the Year Awards and was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Victoria University of Wellington in 2021.