Members of Parliament, fellow councillors, Board members of the Christchurch Art Gallery Foundation, guests and visitors from elsewhere.
I remember sitting on the forecourt on the 10th May 2003, along with the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark, who was also the Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage, the then gallery director, Tony Preston, who is here this evening, Ros Burden, who led the extraordinary fundraising effort that contributed a significant sum to the 47.5M that it cost, and many others.
It was an extraordinary achievement. And we felt it.
I remember sitting on the forecourt on the 10th May 2003, along with the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark, who was also the Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage, the then gallery director, Tony Preston, who is here this evening, Ros Burden, who led the extraordinary fundraising effort that contributed a significant sum to the 47.5M that it cost, and many others.
It was an extraordinary achievement. And we felt it.
And now just shy of the 13th Anniversary of that opening and the 5th Anniversary of it closing - as a Gallery - we are here again. And we feel it again. The importance of this place simply cannot be overstated.
They say you know you're from Christchurch when GeoNet is your home page. Well you know you're the Director of our city's Art Gallery when an App called Bellweather is your home page. Yes that's right, I can tell you that over 85,000 people have walked through the door since the soft opening prior to Christmas. Jenny Harper can tell you the exact number, which is…..
That first opening on the 19th December was an important target for the city - unlike some people I am a great believer in timelines, even when the dates are stretch targets. People always understand when something slips, but what a sense of achievement when you do nigh on the impossible.
Opening for the school holidays was vital and it paid off, even if it meant that not every viewing space was not open and the individual Gallery names were not all displayed. The sheer joy on people's faces - and there were tears - made it all worthwhile.
And that sense of joy wasn't only felt here. Look at the Margaret Mahy Playground.
And the joy on my face when the city's insurance was resolved with a global settlement. What a great end to the year we had.
And now we have a great start to 2016. This is the first occasion when all spaces within the Gallery are available for viewing - an exciting moment for us all.
And it is the first opening of 'Op & Pop', and Tony de Lautour's new work Silent Patterns on the bunker outside.
And there's a wonderful weekend of events planned, with Polyglot Theatre's Tangle out on the forecourt sure to be a winner.
As you can see there is still some work to do around the site, but thanks have to go to the project staff and, in particular, this evening, the art gallery staff for their tenacity and commitment to getting art back in its spaces and available for us all to see as quickly as humanly possible.
We've missed it! A city is simply not 'complete' without a gallery.I remember sitting on the forecourt on the 10th May 2003, along with the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark, who was also the Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage, the then gallery director, Tony Preston, who is here this evening, Ros Burden, who led the extraordinary fundraising effort that contributed a significant sum to the 47.5M that it cost, and many others.
It was an extraordinary achievement. And we felt it.
And now just shy of the 13th Anniversary of that opening and the 5th Anniversary of it closing - as a Gallery - we are here again. And we feel it again. The importance of this place simply cannot be overstated.
They say you know you're from Christchurch when GeoNet is your home page. Well you know you're the Director of our city's Art Gallery when an App called Bellweather is your home page. Yes that's right, I can tell you that over 85,000 people have walked through the door since the soft opening prior to Christmas. Jenny Harper can tell you the exact number, which is…..
That first opening on the 19th December was an important target for the city - unlike some people I am a great believer in timelines, even when the dates are stretch targets. People always understand when something slips, but what a sense of achievement when you do nigh on the impossible.
Opening for the school holidays was vital and it paid off, even if it meant that not every viewing space was not open and the individual Gallery names were not all displayed. The sheer joy on people's faces - and there were tears - made it all worthwhile.
And that sense of joy wasn't only felt here. Look at the Margaret Mahy Playground.
And the joy on my face when the city's insurance was resolved with a global settlement. What a great end to the year we had.
And now we have a great start to 2016. This is the first occasion when all spaces within the Gallery are available for viewing - an exciting moment for us all.
And it is the first opening of 'Op & Pop', and Tony de Lautour's new work Silent Patterns on the bunker outside.
And there's a wonderful weekend of events planned, with Polyglot Theatre's Tangle out on the forecourt sure to be a winner.
As you can see there is still some work to do around the site, but thanks have to go to the project staff and, in particular this evening, the art gallery staff for their tenacity and commitment to getting art back in its spaces and available for us all to see as quickly as humanly possible.
We've missed it! A city is simply not 'complete' without a gallery.
They say you know you're from Christchurch when GeoNet is your home page. Well you know you're the Director of our city's Art Gallery when an App called Bellweather is your home page. Yes that's right, I can tell you that over 85,000 people have walked through the door since the soft opening prior to Christmas. Jenny Harper can tell you the exact number, which is…..
That first opening on the 19th December was an important target for the city - unlike some people I am a great believer in timelines, even when the dates are stretch targets. People always understand when something slips, but what a sense of achievement when you do nigh on the impossible.
Opening for the school holidays was vital and it paid off, even if it meant that not every viewing space was not open and the individual Gallery names were not all displayed. The sheer joy on people's faces - and there were tears - made it all worthwhile.
And that sense of joy wasn't only felt here. Look at the Margaret Mahy Playground.
And the joy on my face when the city's insurance was resolved with a global settlement. What a great end to the year we had.
And now we have a great start to 2016. This is the first occasion when all spaces within the Gallery are available for viewing - an exciting moment for us all.
And it is the first opening of 'Op & Pop', and Tony de Lautour's new work Silent Patterns on the bunker outside.
And there's a wonderful weekend of events planned, with Polyglot Theatre's Tangle out on the forecourt sure to be a winner.
As you can see there is still some work to do around the site, but thanks have to go to the project staff and, in particular, this evening, the art gallery staff for their tenacity and commitment to getting art back in its spaces and available for us all to see as quickly as humanly possible.
We've missed it! A city is simply not 'complete' without a gallery.I remember sitting on the forecourt on the 10th May 2003, along with the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark, who was also the Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage, the then gallery director, Tony Preston, who is here this evening, Ros Burden, who led the extraordinary fundraising effort that contributed a significant sum to the 47.5M that it cost, and many others.
It was an extraordinary achievement. And we felt it.
And now just shy of the 13th Anniversary of that opening and the 5th Anniversary of it closing - as a Gallery - we are here again. And we feel it again. The importance of this place simply cannot be overstated.
They say you know you're from Christchurch when GeoNet is your home page. Well you know you're the Director of our city's Art Gallery when an App called Bellweather is your home page. Yes that's right, I can tell you that over 85,000 people have walked through the door since the soft opening prior to Christmas. Jenny Harper can tell you the exact number, which is…..
That first opening on the 19th December was an important target for the city - unlike some people I am a great believer in timelines, even when the dates are stretch targets. People always understand when something slips, but what a sense of achievement when you do nigh on the impossible.
Opening for the school holidays was vital and it paid off, even if it meant that not every viewing space was not open and the individual Gallery names were not all displayed. The sheer joy on people's faces - and there were tears - made it all worthwhile.
And that sense of joy wasn't only felt here. Look at the Margaret Mahy Playground.
And the joy on my face when the city's insurance was resolved with a global settlement. What a great end to the year we had.
And now we have a great start to 2016. This is the first occasion when all spaces within the Gallery are available for viewing - an exciting moment for us all.
And it is the first opening of 'Op & Pop', and Tony de Lautour's new work Silent Patterns on the bunker outside.
And there's a wonderful weekend of events planned, with Polyglot Theatre's Tangle out on the forecourt sure to be a winner.
As you can see there is still some work to do around the site, but thanks have to go to the project staff and, in particular this evening, the art gallery staff for their tenacity and commitment to getting art back in its spaces and available for us all to see as quickly as humanly possible.
We've missed it! A city is simply not 'complete' without a gallery.