In early 2014, IPAG’s previous home, Anderson House, was closed to the public due to a failed seismic survey. Although this was upsetting and challenging for the gallery, it presented us with wonderful opportunities to review our role and responsibilities, strengthen our operational capacity, collaborate with other galleries and public collections and raise our profile in the local community – all of which we have embraced wholeheartedly.

The closure of Anderson House placed the gallery’s collection of over 1000 pieces of fine and applied art in a vulnerable position. In order to ensure its ongoing accessibility and protection, IPAG was faced with securing a temporary exhibition space in the CDB, as well as a long term storage area, to house the collection until the ‘Art in the Heart’ project established a permanent art gallery in the inner city.

IPAG has achieved the above, with a temporary gallery up and running at 5 Don Street and a space secured at the Invercargill City Library and Archive (ICLA) to hold the majority of our collection. The following link takes you to our Collection Transition and Relocation Project booklet, which seeks to lay out the six steps involved in this project and give background information to those which have been completed. It also offers insight into the steps we need to progress in order to complete the long awaited relocation of our collection from Anderson House, to the Invercargill CBD.

To achieve this work we must collaborate and build strong relationships with professional and government agencies, funders and all other stakeholders. This means clearly articulating our goals and communicating our progress. Our Strategic Plan forms the basis of all our operations. 

If you have any questions about this project, or would be interested in helping us in anyway, please contact Sarah Brown, our Manager/Curator, at sarah@invercargillpublicartgallery.nz