Megan Hansen-Knarhoi, Jesus Spells, 2011. Image courtesy of the Suter Gallery
The Dowse Art Museum is a connected art place that explores meaningful new ideas and initiatives for our many communities.
Just a 15 minute drive from downtown Wellington, The Dowse is a nationally significant contemporary art museum as well as the public art gallery for Lower Hutt city. Opened in 1971, The Dowse forged a reputation for presenting quality exhibitions and events with a special focus on craft and design. Today, The Dowse's programming is diverse and exciting, presenting works by local and international artists to a range of audiences. A busy events calendar complements each exhibition season with artists' talks, children's workshops and a monthly Late Lounge music session.
Visitors expect to be challenged by our programmes and we aim to explore new ideas and initiatives with insight, imagination, and intelligence.
The 21st Century is an exciting time for The Dowse. The future holds opportunities for a new sustainable approach that builds on our foundations as a leader in contemporary art, our high level of engagement with our communities and an enviable gallery space.
It’s time to embrace green technologies and global communications that will enable us to revolutionise our business and our arts related practice while showing leadership in the museum sector and with our public.
Our three guiding principles:
1| A CONNECTED ART PLACE
— Seeking to expand our relevance and reach, The Dowse will continue to grow and actively develop new audiences.
— Adopting a leadership role in sustainable art and business practices, The Dowse will seek to transmit these values and technologies as our contribution to creating sustainable local and national communities.
— Finding synergies between the global and local, The Dowse will build new connections and foster new relationships.
2| EXPLORING MEANINGFUL NEW IDEAS AND INITIATIVES
— Led by our passion for the unique role of art, The Dowse will use new and old ways to deliver art that challenges, questions and provokes while telling us about ourselves and what we can aspire to be.
— Engaged in our quest for excellence and innovation, we will take our communities with us on our journey of discovery and development.
— Committed to behaving in a sustainable way, we will embrace a culture of adopting and adapting new ways of doing things.
3| SUPPORTING OUR MANY COMMUNITIES
— Recognising that as a museum we contribute to society by helping create a sense of place, The Dowse will strengthen its relationship with its communities.
— Drawing on the wealth of cultural and social capital in our communities, The Dowse will bring innovative approaches to the delivery of social and educational benefits.
— Harnessing our belief in the transformational power of art, The Dowse will be highly effective as an educational instrument for community development.