Funding Support for the Dowse Redevelopment
The Dowse art gallery in Lower Hutt has received a significant boost to its redevelopment project with funding support of $1.969 million from the Regional Museums Policy for Capital Construction Projects.
The project will extend and upgrade existing facilities in the gallery, including the development of a purpose built display facility to house its nationally significant collection of decorative arts and design.
'The Dowse holds a comprehensive collection of works by New Zealand's leading twentieth and twenty-first century decorative artists, in the fields of ceramics, glass, wood, painting, drawings, photography, sculpture, jewellery and fibre,' said Helen Clark, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.
'Exhibition spaces will be considerably improved, by an extension of approximately 60 per cent, and the development will allow for more flexible use of space, with a theatre, outdoor courtyard, function spaces, and expanded café.'
The redevelopment of the art gallery is a collaborative project, with funding from central government, local government and the Dowse Foundation, which has committed to a fundraising programme.