Bertha Violet Jolly was very much a proponent of art in the Waikato and was closely associated with Ngaruawahia High School. She left a legacy for ex-pupils of Ngaruawahia High School to study full-time at the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) by way of the Bertha Violet Jolly Scholarship. She also bequeathed funds for Hamilton Girls’ High School to promote art. The inauguration of the Artist in Focus Programme in 2008 is one of Jolly’s legacies which is a short term residency for local artists of note.

Leafa Wilson
Curator of Art
Waikato Museum
2010


According to past Acquisitions Advisor to Trust Waikato, Stuart Stubbs, Violet's daughter Phyllis also became a painter.

"The Scholarships were established in 2008 as a result of a legacy left by Bertha Violet Jolly. Miss Jolly was a foundation senior mistress of Ngaruawahia High School. She and her family had a long association with
Hamilton and she was the granddaughter of Joseph Fear, a pioneer Councillor in Hamilton. He was a construction designer, responsible for a number of early Hamilton buildings including the first traffic bridge
at Ngaruawahia."
from the following website:
http://www.mch.govt.nz/funding-nz-culture/search-funding?detail=803043/B