Auckland Art Gallery visitors top 100,000

By Sunday 9 October, visitor numbers to the revamped Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki exceeded 100,000. The restored and extended Gallery opened on Saturday 3 September.

'We have been delightfully overwhelmed by the public response', says Regional Facilities Auckland Gallery Director Chris Saines. 'We have received so much positive feedback, with visitors returning many times over to experience the sheer diversity and scale of the new displays.

'It's hugely gratifying that Aucklanders have taken such immediate ownership of the new building and family visitors, in particular, have embraced the new programmes it offers.'

Click here to see footage of our opening day.

• Tens of thousands of visitors enjoyed the opening weekend celebrations. More than 1000 children and their parents participated in free Family Drop-in art activities, and over 5000 visited the Gallery's new hands-on Learning Centre in the first weekend.

• The Learning Centre has received more than 21,000 creative art lovers since opening.

• The Gallery's E H McCormick Research Library received more than 825 visitors, more than the average per quarter in the old premises. Visitors to the new library made the most of the library's longer opening hours and families enjoyed the children's book collection.

Among the Gallery's opening exhibitions is the private art collection of American philanthropists Julian and Josie Robertson. The Julian and Josie Robertson Promised Gift shows 15 works by European masters of the modern period, including Gauguin, Dalí and Mondrian. The Promised Gift exhibition ends on Sunday 30 October.

Entry to the Gallery is free.

The Auckland Art Gallery is open daily 10am - 5pm except Christmas Day. It is located on the corner of Kitchener and Wellesley Streets in Auckland City.