Sarjeant on the Quay opening imminent

Published on 23 April 2014

23 April 2014

The front facade of Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare O Rehua’s new Taupo Quay location is almost complete.

The unveiling of the newly painted facade and a new sign follows the temporary closure of the gallery’s Queens Park building last month to allow for crucial earthquake strengthening and redevelopment work.

The words ‘Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare O Rehua Whanganui’ appear in prime position above the gallery’s main entrance, while an additional new name, ‘Sarjeant On the Quay’, appears on the facade’s top left corner.

Sarjeant Gallery Senior Curator Greg Anderson says the signage, which can easily be removed, symbolises the new location’s transitory nature.

“The new location, which is right in the midst of our vibrant downtown arts precinct, signals an exciting new era for our gallery and city and we hope the signage reflects this. However, the Taupo Quay location is also to be viewed as a temporary measure while the original Queens Park building undergoes the required work,” Mr Anderson said.

“As momentous and exciting as this relocation is, we’re viewing it very much as if the gallery is going to be stretching its legs and trying something new, while maintaining and growing strong links with our community. Upmost in our minds is that once the original building reaches a stage of completion the Sarjeant’s operations, staff and collections will be returning to their original home in Queens Park.”

Meanwhile, refurbishment work is progressing on the interior of the new Taupo Quay location, and geo-technical soil investigations have gone ahead around the original Queens Park building to determine the best method of earthquake strengthening.

The regional education programmes the gallery provides for Year 1-13 students under its longstanding Ministry of Education ‘Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom’ contract continue to run.

During the gallery’s transition, the education team has successfully run its classes at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre, and the team is looking forward to setting up a new purpose-built classroom in the new gallery when it opens.

Sarjeant On the Quay will open its doors on 24 May 2014.