About us

The Wellington Museums Trust is a centrally managed and uniquely diverse group of arts and heritage experiences located within the heart of New Zealand’s “cultural capital”. Our facilities comprise the city’s largest grouping of cultural and heritage attractions and we are key contributors to Wellington City Council’s directions of creativity and innovation.

The Trust’s objective is to further the development of museum and cultural activities within the city for the benefit of Wellington residents and the wider community. While we receive significant council funding, we generate more than 35% of our requirements from other sources including the generous support of a wide range of sponsors, funders and friends.

We currently operate and manage the following facilities:

• City Gallery Wellington
• Capital E
• Museum of Wellington City & Sea (including the Plimmer’s Ark Gallery)
• Wellington Cable Car Museum
• Colonial Cottage Museum
• New Zealand Cricket Museum (jointly with the New Zealand Cricket Museum Trust)

Since our establishment by the Wellington City Council in 1995, we have repositioned a number of key facilities, opened new museums and undertaken several major redevelopment projects.

Key achievements include:

• The successful opening of the Wellington Cable Car Museum in December 2000 (now a key tourist attraction and the city’s second busiest museum after the national facility Te Papa Tongarewa); the professional conservation and restoration of one of the original cable cars, Grip Car 3 (c1904) and the winning of two prestigious Tourism Industry New Zealand awards - in 2006 and 2007 - for visitor activities and attractions: culture and heritage tourism
• City Gallery Wellington’s staging of a number of major international art exhibitions including The Exhibition of the Century: Modern Masters from the Collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Viva La Vida – Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism as well as the major Millennium exhibition for Wellington, Parihaka – the Art of Passive Resistance; strong support for local and national contemporary artists; and confirmation of a long-awaited upgrade which will provide new spaces for Maori and Pacific art as well as for the city’s collection (to be completed in 2009)
• The refocusing of Capital E as a child-centred education and performance facility including the opening of Capital E SoundHouse™ New Zealand, the development of New Zealand’s only professional theatre presenting works to children, Capital E National Theatre for Children, of a children’s TV studio OnTV and of the biennial arts festival for children, Capital E National Arts Festival. A decade in action for this facility was celebrated recently with international sales for the theatre’s productions.
• Appointment as co-manager of the New Zealand Cricket Museum (in conjunction with the NZ Cricket Museums Trust) from mid 2003 followed by moves to put this museum on a professional footing through the appointment of a full-time manager/curator and the purchase of collection management software
• Completion of a visitors’ centre adjacent to the Colonial Cottage Museum, refurbishment of the cottage and redevelopment of the surrounding gardens to match the cottage era; and
• A multi-million dollar project to restore and strengthen the historic Bond Store building and transform it from a maritime museum into the Museum of Wellington City & Sea; the opening of Plimmer’s Ark Gallery as an adjunct to the Museum of Wellington City & Sea; and record numbers for the museum of over 90,000 in the year to 2006/07.

The Trust is registered under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957. We acknowledge the Council as major funder. The Trust is a Council-controlled organisation (CCO) in terms of the Local Government Act. The Wellington City Council appoints all of the trustees.