City Gallery Wellington

City Gallery Wellington has a reputation for showing the latest and boldest artwork coming out of New Zealand as well as staging international exhibitions. It has no permanent collection of its own, but instead showcases an ever-changing body of work that focuses on visual arts, architecture and design.

Housed in a magnificent art deco-style building that used to be the Wellington Public Library, the gallery comprises seven principle exhibition spaces.

Before venturing inside, stop by Square². This area features video artworks by local, national and international artists. Films are played here continuously 24 hours a day.

Learn about Māori and Pacific Island art and culture inside the Deane Gallery. Discover the work of Wellington-based artists in the Hirschfeld Gallery. Works in this space cover many art forms including painting, sculpture, video, mixed media, furniture and photography. Typically, there are six to eight exhibitions a year in this gallery space.

As you walk around observe some of the building’s original and restored art deco features such as the period glass light fittings.

For the latest information about what’s on, check out the gallery’s website. If you are visiting with children, download the activity booklets from the website before your visit. These booklets have plenty of creative games and pursuits to challenge and entertain children as they move around the gallery. Art Explorer: Civic Square is for children aged 5 to 8 years old while Art Explorer: Waterfront is designed for children aged 9 to 12 years old.

Situated in Civic Square in the heart of the downtown area, City Gallery Wellington is well served by several bus routes. The gallery does not have on-site parking facilities, but there’s metered parking and garages in nearby streets. Admission to the gallery is free although there may be charges for some exhibitions.

City Gallery is open every day except Christmas Day.