Art after dark

Last weekend the Gallery stayed open late - really late - as part of the Auckland Festival's White Night events programme.

The Gallery was open til midnight, with a whole range of family-friendly activities laid on.

We were staggered by the amazing public response - around 1400 people stopped by for an evening of art, stories, colour and sound!

Here are a few images of the evening:


The puppet shows were a huge success - and the high ratio of adults in the audience proved it was fun for all ages!


Making tin-can telephones to commemorate the building's history as a telephone exchange


Crowds gather to participate in an African drumming session


Sound artists created soundscapes in response to of some of the artworks on display

Thank you to everyone who came along, and to our staff for staying up late and dealing with the crowds!

Thinking outside the box

Well, the holidays are well and truly over - if you're an adult, that is. But school's still out and for the last couple of weeks' the Gallery's been holding its popular school holiday programmes.

Last week's classes were based around one of the artworks in our current Call Waiting exhibition: Ndebele by Terry Urbahn. Inspired by his diorama with its mashup of cultural themes, they made their own dioramas - of their bedrooms.

Tutor Kate Sellar passed on these pictures of some of the children's work - take a look at what they've created: I love how this one includes a window with a beautiful country view. Feathers on the walls, brightly-coloured carpets and curtains - these are some seriously stylish bedrooms!But I think this one's my favourite: funky mismatched patterns, a view out onto a sunny porch and a tiny white dog sitting by the fireplace.

The Gallery runs school holiday programmes throughout the year - keep an eye on our What's On pages for updates.

The return of Call Waiting

The title of our latest exhibition comes from an artwork that was specially commissioned for the NEW Gallery's atrium space for its opening in 1995: Call Waiting, by Ralph Paine.

Getting the five long printed panels back up into place was no piece of cake. Check out these pictures of Ian from Rich Rigging and Red from Total Access installing the piece from their precarious perches:

Plenty of safety gear was needed to work up so high...

Unfortunately, one of the crew left his knee pads behind, meaning some uncomfortable moments out on the narrow ledge!

Come and see the finished result (and the rest of the exhibition) - it's an impressive sight, especially once you know what was involved in getting it there!