Overview
'We are very pleased with the response to the Gallery,' says
Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) Chairman, Sir Don McKinnon.
'It's very satisfying to see one of Auckland's finest facilities so
widely enjoyed and appreciated by both Aucklanders and visitors to
our city. It is especially good to note Aucklanders returning many
times over to enjoy the building, the programmes of events and, of
course, the art.'
The Gallery has been quickly adopted by Aucklanders with more
than half of Gallery visitors (56%) from the region. The remainder
of visitors have been from out of town (19%) and overseas
(25%).
The 500,000th visitor to the redeveloped Gallery is Lulu French,
a secondary school
teacher from Otara, South Auckland.
It was a spontaneous decision to visit the Gallery by French and
her partner, Jeremiah, and son, Rene. 'We were impressed,' says
French of their first visit to the redeveloped Gallery. 'We felt
art is for everybody to enjoy.'
'I never thought I'd stand in front of a Monet in my life - and
I'm from Otara,' says French.
'Both my partner and I have dance backgrounds, and we found
Degas to Dalí so inspiring. The labels and
stories were really well written for everyone to understand.'
'We took our time because we wanted to savour the experience -
there's a lot to take in! Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,
it's like having Europe on your doorstep. We'll come back again to
see the free exhibitions.'
'We were on a buzz the whole day! It really fills your creative
soul.'
They were gifted free entry to the major international
exhibition Degas to Dalí, the
exhibition's catalogue, T-shirt and an assortment of Degas to
Dalí notebooks, along with a copy of the Gallery's
award-winning publication, Art
Toi.
Last month, the Gallery was the recipient of the Project
Achievement Award for Museum or Gallery Development at the New
Zealand Museum Awards. It was also a winner at the 2012 New Zealand
Architecture Awards in two categories - Heritage and Public
Architecture.
For more information please contact:
Tae Allison
Communications Coordinator
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
P +64 9 307 7706
M +64 27 291 9953
E tae.allison@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz