Renowned sculptor and former lecturer Paul Dibble remembered

Paul Dibble was born in 1943 in Waitakururu near Thames. He graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland in 1967 and went on to forge a career in sculpture, primarily working with bronze. In the 1970s, he taught art in various secondary schools, before taking up a teaching position at Palmerston North College of Education in 1976. He stayed on when the College merged with Massey University. In 2000, he set up his own foundry in Palmerston North, and left Massey in 2002 to focus on his artwork.

The foundry enabled Mr Dibble to cast his own large-scale artworks. His wife, Fran Dibble, worked closely with him in running the foundry and casting the sculptures. Native flora and fauna were key aspects of his subject matter, and his sculptures are held in public and private collections throughout the country and are widely admired by people from all walks of life.

Mr Dibble was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours List 2005 and in 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Massey University.

During his career, Mr Dibble created more than 1000 sculptures. The Palmerston North city centre is home to six of his sculptures, plus there is one at Victoria Esplanade, Massey University and IPU New Zealand.

The statue housed at Massey University, Impossible Dialogue, was transferred to the Manawatū campus in 2018, and features a large bold figure balanced on its tripod of three legs. It is adorned with one of Mr Dibble’s signature parrots, the figure’s conversation partner, which swings on a small rod that reaches out from the body.

One of Mr Dibble’s largest and most significant commissions was the New Zealand Memorial in Hyde Park Corner, London, which was officially opened in 2006 by the Prime Ministers of New Zealand and the United Kingdom and several members of the British royal family. This sculpture, The Southern Stand, incorporates a series of standing forms lined up like a formation of crosses in the sky, adorned with motifs and icons representing New Zealand culture.

In November 2023, Paul Dibble: Continuum opened at Te Manawa Art Gallery in Palmerston North.

Mr and Mrs Dibble have four children. The family has maintained a long relationship with Massey University, with all family members having either studied and/or worked at the university, including daughter Dr Phoebe Elers, who is a current Massey staff member.