1979 she photographed the Ben Burn Park Concerts that were part of Summer City (Wellington). Washday at the Pa and broader recognition Westra lived with rural Māori for five months, photographing typical daily life, and in 1964 her school bulletin Washday at the Pa was published by the school publications section of the Department of Education and distributed to primary school classrooms throughout New Zealand. The book documents a large Māori family at their rural home in Ruatoria. The family was given the fictitious name "Wereta", and listed as living "near Taihape" to protect their identities. The living conditions of the family were seen as poor and their rural cottage rundown. Concerns were raised, including by the Māori Women's Welfare League, that the depiction of the Weretas would lead readers—impressionable children—to see the family as representative of all Māori. The league requested its withdrawal from schools, and soon after its release the journal was withdrawn by order of the Minister of Education at the request of the league. Later in 1964 Washday at the Pa was republished privately by the Caxton Press, with 20 additional photographs. An article written by academics in Auckland in 2016 about this event states: "In a way the book, and the feelings it inspired, appealed strongly to Pākehā ideas of Māori, more so than it reflected some important truth about Māori themselves." In 1967 Maori was published with photography by Westra and text by James Ritchie. In 1982 an archive of Westra's negatives was established at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Westra undertook several artist-in-residences including at the Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (1988–89), the Tylee Cottage Residency, Wanganui (1993) and in 1996, she was awarded the inaugural Southland Art Foundation Artist in Residence award by Southland Art Foundation, Southern Institute of Technology, Southland Museum and Art Gallery and Creative New Zealand. In 1998 Westra was artist-in-residence at the Otago School of Fine Arts, Otago Polytechnic. Westra was the subject of the 2006 documentary Ans Westra: Private Journeys/Public Thoughts by Luit Bieringa. Westra's 2009 book and exhibition, The Crescent Moon: The Asian Face of Islam in New Zealand features her own photographs, with text by New Zealand writer Adrienne Jansen. The book's interviews and photographs of 37 individuals give insights into the lives of Asian Muslims in New Zealand. Washday at the Pa was reissued in 2011 by Suite