Each Autumn we ask the community to share their feedback in our annual survey about your experiences at Aratoi over the previous year. This helps us understand what you want for your regional museum, where we can improve and how we can best represent our vibrant community.
Last year was an incredible year. We saw Rita Angus showcased in the Main Gallery, The Moon installed in the Wesley Wing, local artists exhibiting – some for the first time- in our Windows Gallery. We continued to foster connections with our close neighbours ConArt and King Street Artworks through exhibitions. We explored Fijian culture through Natasha Ratuva’s stunning exhibition as well as community favourites- The Breadcraft Wairarapa Schools Art and The New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Wairarapa Art Review exhibitions.
We also ask for improvements you would like to see at Aratoi. Previous recommendations that we have enacted include showing more of our collection on display- our foyer wall has been a revolving showcase of unusual or unseen collection works for the last two years.
We were also asked to have more exhibition specific openings for our local artists. If you were here last Friday, you would have seen the huge crowd gathered for Jane Sinclair’s opening of her exhibition Quiet Observations.
We added solar panels to the roof to increase the sustainability of the museum and be a role model for the community.
These suggestions, as well as your feedback on when and how often you visit Aratoi, will help with our funding applications to local councils and groups. This money is vital to the museum, and goes towards producing interesting exhibitions, caring for our collection, and ensuring the lights stay on.
You may have noticed Museum Aotearoa’s Keep The Lights On campaign recently after announcements that funding would be cut to museums and galleries over the next few years across the country. This has significantly affected Aratoi as well as bigger institutions across New Zealand.
To help us through this difficult time, we need your voice. We want your opinion if you think Aratoi is an asset to the region and ideas about how we can enhance and develop the museum experience moving forward.
We are carrying out this survey from Sunday 21 April until Sunday 28 April. You can scan the QR code, head to our social media channels and or click on this link. You can also fill in the survey in person at Aratoi.
The survey is anonymous and should only take a few minutes to complete. Thank you!