Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery

Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery is a regional gallery locally rooted in West Auckland but globally minded. We have a distinctive West Auckland focus but a national and international perspective. Through our programmes, we create a world stage for art that is relevant for our audiences, to put local art, artists and ideas in conversation and context with national and international developments in contemporary practice. We present a diverse programme of contemporary exhibitions, events and activities, including art, craft and design, to reflect and strengthen the full diversity of cultural identities, interests and potential of our community. As a destination gallery, Te Uru operates from an award-winning, building in the recently re-opened Lopdell Precinct. The gallery originally opened in 1986 as the Waitemata City Arts and Cultural Centre, later known as Lopdell House Gallery, sited in the historic Lopdell House building in the heart of Titirangi, gateway to the Waitākere rain forest and en route to Auckland's famous west coast beaches. We reopened as Te Uru on Saturday 1 November 2014 in our new purpose-built facilities, offering extraordinary exhibitions and spectacular views of the surrounding area. Our name, Te Uru, makes reference to Te Hau a Uru, the wind that blows from the west, a powerful characteristic of the region and an important story for local iwi, Te Kawerau ā Maki, who have bestowed us with this new kaupapa. The west wind shares the messages and vision of the people that live in the west, brings change, sets direction and influences Auckland City from its mountainous perch atop the Great Forest of Tiriwa. Te Uru will be a source of information and ideas that will project across the region - a fitting framework for a contemporary gallery.