Top art galleries for browsing & buying
View or buy work from some of New Zealand's emerging and established artists, right in the heart of Wellington
Academy Galleries
1 Queens Wharf, Wellington
For 140 years, New Zealand's Academy of Fine Arts has supported the Wellington art scene, showcasing Aotearoa’s best artists and capturing the essence of what New Zealand fine art is all about.
The gallery has hosted a range of seasonal and monthly exhibitions – such as Matariki, Beyond the mask, and Cash & Carry. Browse the gift shop or support artists by purchasing unique exhibition artwork.
Bartley & Company Art
Level 2/22 Garrett Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Bartley & Company believe any gallery is only as good as the company it keeps - the company of artists, viewers, supporters and collectors.
Working in the art world since the mid-1990s, director Alison Bartley promotes high-quality, critically-relevant art in all media. The gallery houses art from a range of emerging and established artists who reflect contemporary life.
Jhana Millers
Level 1/85 Victoria Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Gallery owner and curator Jhana Millers originally trained as a jeweller before completing a Masters of Fine Arts at Massey University Wellington. While studying, she took on extra projects and got a taste for curator and gallery management.
Jhana Millers opened in 2018 on the first floor of a heritage-listed building on Victoria Street. The modernist building is the perfect background for showing art and the gallery shows a range of mainly New Zealand artists working in a range of mediums including painting, jewellery, video and sculpture.
Kura Gallery
19 Allen Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Kura Gallery is passionate about supporting the growth of Māori and New Zealand art and design and represents both established and emerging Māori and New Zealand artists. Featuring traditional and contemporary Māori carving, original artworks, innovative designs, unique jewellery, furniture and genuine pounamu (greenstone).
Located in Courtenay Place, Kura is a great place to purchase a gift or a souvenir, and they offer an international and national packaging and delivery service.
Bowen Galleries
39 Ghuznee Street, Te Aro, Wellington
You’ll find Bowen Galleries by their eye-catching exhibition window that faces out onto the fashionable Ghuznee Street. A new artwork is swapped out every couple of weeks, giving customers sitting outside the neighbouring cafés something to contemplate with their long black.
Bowen Galleries is run by Penney Moir and Jenny Neligan and has a long history of regularly showing the work of New Zealand and Australian artists in Wellington. The gallery also has a fantastic stockroom with selected work by represented artists that is well worth checking out.
McLeavey Gallery
147 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Long-established art dealer specialising in New Zealand contemporary art, McLeavey Gallery made its name representing leading artists like Colin McCahon, Gordon Walters and Toss Woollaston.
Originally set up by Peter McLeavey in 1968, the gallery is now run by Peter's daughter, Olivia, who has continued the gallery's reputation for showing the work of influential contemporary New Zealand artists. The intimate gallery space is filled with natural light from a large semi-circular window that looks out onto Cuba Street.
Page Galleries
42 Victoria Street, Te Aro, Wellington
One of Wellington’s largest commercial art spaces, Page Galleries presents a regularly changing exhibition programme of some of New Zealand’s leading contemporary artists.
The gallery specialises in historical art and valuations, as well as exhibiting and selling works by represented and featured artists. The modern and thoughtfully laid-out gallery has polished concrete floors and multiple exhibition spaces. It’s a great place to go for a browse, and the knowledgeable staff will be happy to talk art with you.
{Suite} Art Gallery
241 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington
{Suite} on Cuba Street represents a wide group of New Zealand and international contemporary artists with a varied schedule of exhibitions.
The gallery has a dedicated space to acclaimed New Zealand photographer Ans Westra. Browse through her archive of images and articles dating back to 1960, and view over 200 books featuring Ans' work.
Avid Gallery
48 Victoria Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Contemporary ceramics and jewellery fans will be in their element at Avid, an established gallery on Victoria Street. Representing some of New Zealand's foremost artists in glass, ceramics, bronze, stone, mixed media and other objects of applied art, Avid is a place to discover new artists and revisit some of your old favourites.
The gallery has regular exhibitions of new work and carries a range of work in stock. If anything catches your eye, they offer a pack-and-post service throughout New Zealand and internationally.
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