Dowse Art Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1971 |
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| Location | Lower Hutt, New Zealand |
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The Dowse Art Museum is a public art gallery located in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. It opened its doors in 1971 in the city center of Lower Hutt. The Dowse is in its own building, close to other city facilities. The building was completely updated in 2013. The museum's collection mainly features art by New Zealand artists, both famous ones from across the country and talented local artists.
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The Dowse Art Museum's Story
The Dowse Art Museum is named after Percy and Mary Dowse. Percy Dowse was the mayor of Hutt City from 1950 to 1970. He believed that modern cities needed places for sports, social events, and culture. He started a big building project in the city. This project included important buildings like the War Memorial Library and the Lower Hutt Town Hall. He strongly supported adding an art gallery to these new buildings.
His wife, Mary Dowse, was also a big supporter of the arts. She worked with Elizabeth Harper from The Hutt Art Society. Together, they convinced the City Council to set aside space for an art gallery in 1963. The gallery was first located in an extra part of the War Memorial Library. After Mary passed away in a car accident in 1964, the City Council decided to honor her. They chose to build a brand new building just for the art gallery. The museum was still being built when Percy passed away in 1970.
Leaders of the Museum
The Dowse Art Museum has had several directors who helped shape its collection and exhibitions:
- David Millar was the first director, from 1971 to 1976. He decided the museum would collect ceramics and decorative arts.
- Jim Barr was director from 1976 to 1981. During his time, the museum bought a well-known artwork by Colin McCahon called Wall of Death.
- James Mack led the museum from 1981 to 1988.
- Bob Maysmor was director from 1988 to 1998.
- Tim Walker was director from 1998 to 2008.
- Cam McCracken was director from 2008 to 2012. He had worked at other art places like Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts and the Auckland Art Gallery. He later became the director of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
- Courtney Johnston was director from 2012 to 2018. She had experience in communications and web roles. In 2019, she became the chief executive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
- Karl Chitham became director in January 2019. Before this, he was the director of the Tauranga Art Gallery.
Artworks and Collections
The Dowse Art Museum's collection includes works by famous New Zealand artists. These include Ralph Hotere, Colin McCahon, Don Peebles, and Gordon Walters. It also features art by important local artists like Rangi Hetet, Rangimārie Hetet, Gordon Crook, and Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe. The museum has also shown many interesting exhibitions about modern Māori and Pacific artists and their cultures. The Dowse has a sculpture of Carmen Rupe by Paul Rayner. It also has a large collection of jewelry by Alan Preston.
Special Exhibitions
The Dowse Art Museum often hosts special exhibitions that showcase different types of art and artists. Some notable exhibitions have included:
- Casting Light – featuring glass art by Ann Robinson in 1998.
- Thrift to Fantasy – an exhibition by Rosemary McLeod in 2003.
- Respect – Hip Hop Aotearoa – exploring New Zealand hip hop culture in 2003. This included artists like DLT, Upper Hutt Posse, Doug and Joella Wright, and Chris Graham (Science).
- Fruits Tokyo Street Style – showing street fashion photography by Shoichi Aoki in 2004.
- Bill Viola: The Messenger – a video art exhibition in 2010.
- Legacy: The Art of Rangi Hetet and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet – held in 2016. This exhibition included beautiful kākahu (cloaks) woven by Dame Rangimārie Hetet, Lillian Smallman Hetet, and Veranoa Hetet.
- Gavin Hipkins: The Domain – an exhibition that ran from 2017 to 2018.
