Huhana Smith pulls off a work-in-life balance most people only dream about

Huhana Smith is the senior curator Māori at Te Papa, as well as a practising artist, an active environmentalist and the newly awarded holder of a PhD.

Finding time for community projects

Despite spending ten hours a week travelling to her full-time job in Wellington, Huhana says living in the country (on the Kapiti/Horowhenua coast) is worth the extra travel time. “I’m passionate about the environment.”

She spends much of her free time at weekends clearing and planting her local wetland, a project that started after she and fellow iwi members, (she is of Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Raukawa descent), set up a trust to protect and maintain the local waterways.

Re-working her life for study and beyond

This passion for eco-restoration led Huhana to start a PhD on the subject seven years ago. She worked on it part time, sandwiching her study between her job and eco-restoration work. She finally finished in early 2008. “When the PhD was handed in I had more time for family and friends, and for leisure and recreation and my painting.

“Recreation will now be revegetating a block of land with my partner, moving into our new house, and getting back into doing more pleasurable things with friends, like going to films and concerts.”

Getting the work-in-life balance right

One of Huhana’s goals is getting the balance between paid work, community work and painting right for her. Before starting her PhD she used to hold two exhibitions each year of her work, and is keen to start spending more time on her art again.

“Getting the paintings pumping is what I love doing and where I’m probably my happiest,” she says. “I’d love to possibly reduce my paid hours, but maybe only once I start selling paintings again.

She feels she is getting her life on the right track. “I eat well, sleep well and we grow a lot of our own food. It’s about getting everything in your life working in balance – about prioritising things.”

How Huhana has made her mark:

• Represented New Zealand at the Noumea Biennale of Contemporary Art, 2001.
• Twice finalist in Waikato contemporary Art Award (2000, 2002).
• Runner-up in New Zealand Post Children’s Book Award for illustrations (Haere Farewell Jack Farewell) 2006.
• PhD in Māori Studies, Massey University, 2008. 
• Chairperson for Taiao Raukawa Trust.

Read about how Huhana got her PhD while holding down a full-time job