Dowse Art Gallery, c. 1971. Source unknown
A Forty Year Love Affair with The Dowse | FREE | Media Release
The Dowse celebrates its 40th birthday with a show spanning four decades of collecting and exhibiting. Listen to National Radio interview. An interview with Cam McCracken on The Big Idea
The Dowse Art Gallery was opened by the Governor General, Sir Arthur Porritt and quickly found its way into the hearts of New Zealanders. Ruby: A 40 Year Love Affair with The Dowse showcases a selection of much loved highlights from the collection. It also acknowledges the vision of the six young men who took on the role of Dowse Director. Named for Mayor Percy Dowse and his wife Mary, The Dowse was part of a plan for ‘a progressive and contemporary city’. Significantly, it was Mary, and the Hutt Art Society, who championed the gallery but sadly neither Mary nor Percy Dowse lived to see the doors open.