The Bishop Suter Art Gallery

The death of a bishop, and the determination of his widow to found a gallery in his name for the people of Nelson, led to the establishment of one of New Zealand's oldest art galleries, the Bishop Suter Art Gallery.

The Suter Art Gallery, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Tyree Collection, 182159/3
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Anglican Bishop Andrew Burn Suter died in March 1895, after suffering a debilitating stroke in 1890. After resigning as Bishop of Nelson, he and his wife, Amelia, had discussed finding a piece of land in Nelson on which an art gallery could be built for the city. A board of trustees, led by his successor, Bishop Charles Mules, was set up shortly before his death to oversee the "Nelson Art Gallery".¹

Described as a "scholarly, energetic, generous and public-spirited diocesan", Bishop Suter died before a suitable site was found. Amelia dedicated herself to ensuring that her husband's "cherished wish" for an art gallery was fulfilled before she returned to England.²

Suter had been an avid collector of artworks. He wanted his collection, which included paintings by the artist John Gully, to be left to the people of Nelson. An enthusiastic sketcher and watercolourist, he had formed the Bishopdale Sketching Club, now the Nelson Suter Art Society, in 1889.³

Amelia quickly announced that she was transferring the bishop's collection, plus land in Hardy Street, between Collingwood and Trafalgar Streets, to the Nelson Art Gallery Board.⁴

At that time there were only two public art galleries in New Zealand. There was considerable discussion over Amelia's decision to found a memorial art gallery, rather than something to commemorate her husband's episcopal role, such as a memorial library at the Nelson Institute. Despite some doubt about the Hardy Street site, however, the Board was supportive and set about fundraising.⁵

Amelia Suter died in March 1896 in England, barely a year after her husband's death. A month later the Board was offered an alternative site, owned by the Nelson School Society, in the Queen's Gardens. The Society was winding up its affairs and offered to donate the land and the Matthew Campbell School buildings, plus several rural school properties which would provide an income for the gallery.⁶

The Bishop Suter Art Gallery Trustees Act 1896 sanctioned the transfer of the Queen's Gardens property to the Trust. The Hardy Street site was sold to raise additional funds for the cash-strapped Trust Board.⁷

Construction of Suter Art Gallery, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Copy Collection, C101
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The trustees hired architect Frederick de Jersey Clere in March 1897 to design a gallery incorporating the brick Matthew Campbell School. With public fundraising continuing, the Bishop Suter Memorial Art Gallery opened on May 31,1899 to a "large and fashionable crowd".⁸

Various attempts to improve the gallery throughout the first half of the twentieth century did little to disguise the building's inadequacy. Fundraising in the 1950s and 1960s led to two major extensions and building projects in the 1970s. Further extensions were undertaken in 1987 ⁹, but the gallery continued to be financially precarious.

Today the Suter is the oldest gallery in continuous use in New Zealand and has a collection of national significance. ¹⁰ It was given a category II historic place registration by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 2007.¹¹

In 2008, the original Act of Parliament establishing the Suter was overturned. It was replaced with the Bishop Suter Art Gallery Governance Restructuring Act, placing the gallery under Nelson City Council governance.¹²  The Trust Board resurrected plans to redevelop the gallery in November 2008.¹³.

2008 

Note - In February 2015 work on the redevelopment of the Suter Art Gallery started, and the Art Gallery and Cafe moved into temporary accommodation opposite the Library on Halifax Street. The old gallery will be transformed. The theatre remains, but much of the rest of the structure has been demolished.¹⁴  The new gallery opened to the public in September 2016.¹⁵

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