Civic Duty

Hastings City Art Gallery might not have had the attention of its Napier neighbour, but this small institution is undergoing something of a renaissance.

- Deborah Smith

Most people who visit Napier quickly fall under its spell. It has a new art museum, notable eateries and shouty art deco. Drive 20 minutes south away from the coast to the small city of Hastings, though, and you’ll notice a quiet but steady stream of happenings. Art studios, galleries and shops are popping up in the inner city. Amongst all that, Hastings City Art Gallery is a gem of a public gallery; it’s architecturally sharp and offers an exciting and vital programme.

In recent years, a string of directors, including Margaret Cranwell, Maree Mills, Kath Purchas and Toni MacKinnon, has got the gallery humming. Ex-Auckland Museum, MacKinnon has been director for the last two years. “We have an ambitious team working to build community interest because getting people excited about what we do is half the battle,” she says. “We’ve spent the last 12 months returning the gallery as much as we can to the original building and working with architect Nicholas Stevens to develop a permanent and elegant solution to the cavernous main gallery.” Working with existing architectural features, the old retail space will become a community workshop, seminar and classroom space.

That’s on top of previous work by Jacob Scott– artist, educator and son of the renowned architect John Scott– who in 2008 devised the off-white, burnt red and black exterior scheme, which riffs on a classic tukutuku panel colour scheme.