Taking the form of a waharoa (gateway) the structure features traditional motifs in timber and laser-cut stainless steel. The work pays homage to the local waterways as a sacred resource for the community. *Te Waharoa ki Henderson Park* is the third in a series of three works by mana whenua Te Kawerau ā Maki to honour Project Twin Streams, a sustainability initiative between the local community and Auckland Council to restore the streams in Waitākere.

Artist Sunnah Thompson has been carving for more than 25 years and is an accomplished artist with a considerable body of work. Thompson has completed more than 50 commissions around Auckland, both as a solo artist and with carvers from other iwi.

Te Waharoa ki Henderson Park

Using imagery that relates to the cultural and natural landscape of Henderson, this welcome sign stands at the northern entrance to the township where Great North Road crosses the Opanuku Stream.  Made up of painted ceramic tiles the words 'HENDERSON FOUNDED 1844' stand out in large black letters against a background of sky blue, surrounded by subtle floating grapevines, acknowledging the winemaking heritage of the region.

This sign along with the one located at the southern entrance to Henderson essentially 'bookend' Henderson's main street. The two signs were commissioned for the district's 150th anniversary celebrations in 1994. This 2012 version replaces the earlier sign which was vandalised.

Artist Jan Morrison graduated from the Otago School of Fine and Applied Art in the early 1970's and works in a variety of media. Her other artworks in the Auckland Council art collection include the heritage listed [*Women’s Suffrage Mural*](/artworks/3677) in Lorne Street and a series of *Queen Street Tile Murals* now located in Onehunga Bay.

Henderson sign (northern entrance)

This four-sided stone pillar is made up of 25 stone blocks in alternating layers, forming a pattern or code similar to the lines of a barcode. With its pyramid-shaped peak, *Transformer* provides a landmark for the adjoining Japanese garden, helping to draw people in. It also provides a visual connection when looking at the garden from the Henderson Train Station overbridge. The layered stones of this sculpture reflect the layering used in elements of the Japanese garden.

This sculpture is intended to be viewed alongside the artist's nearby basalt rock, [*Red Cross*](/artworks/3599). At first glance the pillar and the rock appear as very different things, but Edgar draws our attention to their similarities, and how something large-scale will eventually reduce to dust or sand. This reflects his fascination with long-term geological processes.

These two artworks are related through their use of common materials, but also complement each other through contrast; one has a hard, formal structure, the other is softer and more accessible. *Transformer* was commissioned by Waitākere City Council in 2006 for the new Waitākere Civic Centre, followed by *Red Cross* which was unveiled in June 2008.



"I wanted to provide a link or intermediary between the human scale and the surrounding built environment… I wanted to come up with something greater than the human scale but less intimidating than a building," says Edgar of *Transformer*. "It is an expression of a modern digital code embedded in stone, but it could equally be an ancient core from the earth showing the sedimentary layers and revealing geological events from the past."

Transformer

Designed to complement the Oratia Bridge and essentially 'bookend' Henderson's main street, this art bridge over the Opanuku Stream is infused with social and cultural outlooks.

The bridge, designed by local jeweller Jason Hall, employs colonial architectural elements such as the picket fence, to explore and readapt its role as a symbol of domestic land ownership, idealised family life and colonial identity.

Towering sentinels that light up at night are interspersed along the bridge. Much like pou whenua, used to define or mark territory in Māori culture, the sentinels offer an alternative take on physical and metaphorical cultural boundaries.

Part of an award-winning walk and cycleway, this integration of art and urban infrastructure echoes elements of Hall's design for the earlier [*Oratia Bridge*](/artworks/3928) at the other end of Henderson's town centre.

Sunnah Thompson

Te Waharoa ki Henderson Park

"Celebrating the Project Twin Streams conservation project, this waharoa welcomes visitors to Henderson Park."

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