Peter McLeavey, Wellington, ONZM, for services to the arts
Mr Peter McLeavey has been an influential New Zealand art dealer for the past 47 years. By successfully championing new artists, he has influenced the art scene in New Zealand. His exhibition programme is a catalogue of New Zealand Modernist art. He started selling works by Colin McCahon and Sir Toss Woollaston in 1966 and subsequently more than 500 exhibitions have featured the work of many of New Zealand’s most eminent artists: Michael Smither, Milan Mrkusich, Michael Illingworth, Richard Killeen, Pat Hanly and Gordon Walters. He also promoted a new generation of artists, including Peter Robinson, Bill Hammond, Mark Braunias, Ava Seymour, Andrew McLeod, Yvonne Todd, Liz Maw and Brendon Wilkinson. In 2009 Mr McLeavey was the subject of a documentary in the International Film Festival. In 2010 he received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Massey University.