Art collection now better-stored for future

I wish to respond, once again, to the misinformation regarding Anderson House that Dr Aaron Fox has presented in his letter November 15.

At the time of its closure due to serious engineering issues, Anderson House was struggling to function as a public art gallery.

The art collection did not come with the house as suggested by Dr Fox, but has been developed over many years from the original civic collection that was first established before the house was gifted to the city in 1951.

The art collection and the house are separate and distinct entities that happened to coexist well for a period of time.

It was predicted in the 1970s that collection would outgrow the house and this proved accurate as every available space was being used to store over a thousand items before the shift.

The lack of climate control caused a deterioration of many works on paper that necessitated $30,000 of conservation work.

The house also had accessibility issues for those with disabilities and visitor numbers dropped considerably over the winter months. The decision to shift the public art gallery from the house was not done with ‘‘indecent haste’’ it involved over two years of public consultation and was supported at an AGM by a large majority of members.

The art collection is now being safely stored in best-practice, climate-controlled conditions in the Invercargill Public Library archives until a new purpose-built facility is constructed.

We continue to add significant works to the collection.

The Invercargill Public Art Gallery Inc is currently contracted to manage our transitional Art + Museum, He Waka Tuia, where items from the collection are regularly exhibited.

Far more people are visiting this space in the centre of the city than ever occurred at Anderson House.

I attended the re-opening of Anderson House on Saturday and was very impressed with the extensive restoration work on this lovely historic building.

The trust established to manage the house propose multiple uses for the facility and hosting some art exhibitions could very well be one of those again.