Muse

When a teenage Kaye McGarvashe was not accepted into the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, her dreams of being an artist were crushed. “I lost my confidence with art for many years and instead applied my creativity to cooking.” She went on to found the incredibly successful artisan bakery Pandoro with husband Richard Tollenaar.

Still, when they sold the business, she decided it was time to give art another crack. In 2017, she opened a contemporary gallery, Muse, in Havelock North. At Muse, she has a clear agenda: making art less pretentious and more accessible both financially and intellectually. There are monthly exhibitions, and visitors can look at other works on sliding racks in the storage area. Kaye is also an artist whose striking paintings play on illusion and perception. 5 Havelock Road, Havelock North. 027 289 9103, museart.nz