In 1930 they moved to Wellington where he was appointed as an art teacher at the Technical School of Art. In the wake of the 'Hawkes Bay Earthquake’ which decimated Napier in February 1931, Hipkins returned to the town where he made numerous sketches and began work on Renaissance (1932) one of the more important art works to record the event. "Renaissance' was exhibited at the National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art in 1940.