Tauranga Art Gallery is continuing to engage the community in a range of diverse art experiences through their rich and inspiring public art programmes.

Developed for a variety of cultural and age groups, Tauranga Art Gallery's art programmes cater to our community's unique identity.

With art studios, family fun days, professional development workshops for school teachers, artist talks, and creative workshops, there's plenty on offer for people wanting to explore their inner Picasso.

The school holiday programmes are particularly popular; the most recent term break saw 135 children through the programme in one week.

The gallery's exhibition programme is further complemented by additional activities, including film evenings, yoga classes and breathwork sessions.

Tauranga Art Gallery director Sonya Korohina says exploring and celebrating the local community is at the heart of the gallery's intent.

'The gallery is a social and community space, and our public art programmes are a way for people of diverse interests to connect with art experiences that engage, inspire, challenge and educate.”

Local community trust, TECT, has been supporting community initiatives at Tauranga Art Gallery, such as the ArtBus, since 2010 and recently approved a grant of $100,000 to support the Gallery's costs of developing and delivering their 12 to 15 annual exhibitions and public art programmes.

TECT trustee Kate Barry-Piceno says the Trust sees significant value in the work Tauranga Art Gallery is doing connecting and engaging the community with arts and culture.

'It's fantastic to be able to support opportunities for people to explore their creativity through the offerings at the gallery. Art is expression – of our thoughts, emotions, and the way we experience the world. It encourages us to reflect on our own human experience while challenging us with different points of view.

'Art sparks passion and brings vibrancy to our community, and this is particularly important in our post-Covid environment.”

Senior Curator, Serena Bentley, is responsible for Tauranga Art Gallery's exhibition programme, creating shows for local, national, and international audiences.

'We think a lot about inclusive programming and visitors using the gallery on their own terms. The exhibitions and public programmes we create are always carefully considered and interrelated, ensuring a challenging and insightful gallery experience for all our visitors.”

Current exhibitions include the vibrant Pop-Pocalypse by Dream Girls Art Collective, which has seen the gallery's atrium transformed into a psychedelic world dominated by a fire-breathing taniwha, on display until May 28; and selected works from Te Papa's Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist summer exhibition, on display until July 9.

For more information on the exhibitions and public programmes, head to Tauranga Art Gallery's website: https://www.artgallery.org.nz/