What We Do

The Friends support the Gallery in many ways, both financial and practical.

This support takes many forms, including:

  • The acquisition of works for the collection – take a tour of these works
  • Providing assistance with exhibition publications
  • Providing support for exhibitions
  • Assistance for Gallery staff
  • The provision of a range of public events
  • The promotion of the Gallery, both locally and nationally
The Friends reading room in the Rita Angus: Life & Vision exhibition.

Fundraising
To assist the Gallery, the Friends run a number of fundraising activities. These have included:
The Art Event – an annual event that provides the chance to buy affordable art works from some of New Zealand's major artists. To date $170,000 has been donated to the Gallery from The Art Event
Fundraising lectures, with speakers including Grahame Sydney and Dame Malvina Major
Production of a 2010 calendar featuring works the Friends have assisted the Gallery in purchasing

Scholarships
We also offer two scholarships annually to top students at The University of Canterbury and the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. The CPIT Scholarship is awarded annually to a student for excellence in studies at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, and the University of Canterbury Scholarship is an annual award to a final year student at the University of Canterbury. In alternating years the prize is open to a student in Art History and Fine Arts for excellence in their endeavour of study. The value of each prize is $1,500. The Friends' Scholarship winners are announced annually at the AGM. Find out about this year's winners.

Other Assistance
2010
Contribution to publication of Andrew Drummond: Observation / Action / Reflection: $20,000
Members assisted the Christchurch Art Gallery library in adding Google Earth geo-tags to works in the collection that depict a real place. See an example

2009
First donation to the Challenge Grant Response Fund: $40,000
Contribution to publication of Séraphine Pick: $20,000
Sponsorship of the Reading Room in Rita Angus: Life & Vision: $2,000
Members assisted the Gallery library to convert paper records to digital

2008
Sponsorship of the Morris & Co. exhibition including the Reading Room $10,000
Members assisted the Christchurch Art Gallery library to convert paper records to digital

2007
Contribution to publication of Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning $20,000

Friends president Margaret Duncan presents a cheque to the Challenge Grant Response Fund.