Auckland's art scene runs on two currents: a downtown wedge of public galleries and heritage theatres, and a scatter of artist-run spaces from K' Road out to Titirangi. Three days here means Goldie portraits, a ceiling of fake stars, and openings with koha at the door.
Aotearoa's largest art collection, 17,000 works, in an 1888 French-Renaissance villa joined to Fearon Hay's 2011 kauri-canopy atrium. Open 10:00–17:00 daily. Goldie's Māori portraits and Gordon Walters' koru works anchor the upper floors.
The University of Auckland's contemporary space inside the 1934 Art Deco 1YA radio building — the domed former broadcasting studio is the exhibition room itself. Shows are research-led, often sound or moving image. Tue–Sat 11:00–17:00.
Grey Lynn's non-profit gallery for craft, design and architecture — the only NZ institution taking weaving, ceramics, furniture and building drawings equally seriously. Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00, with a tight bookshop of local design monographs.
Karangahape Road stacks its art vertically: Artspace Aotearoa on level 1 at 292 K' Rd, with Michael Lett and Ivan Anthony inside two blocks. Openings cluster on Thursday and Friday evenings — wine on trestle tables, artists actually present.
Hobson Wharf's museum of Pacific voyaging: a full-scale waka hourua hull, Polynesian navigation instruments, and an immigrant-ship steerage recreation that pitches underfoot. Open 10:00–17:00; heritage boats sail from the pontoon outside.
The 1911 Town Hall's wedge plan follows its awkward Queen Street site; the Great Hall was modelled on Leipzig's Gewandhaus and still rates among the world's finest concert acoustics. Outside, Aotea Square carries Selwyn Muru's Waharoa gateway.
Auckland's 1929 atmospheric picture palace: 2,378 seats beneath a ceiling of electric stars and a Southern Cross, twin Abyssinian panthers flanking the proscenium, an Indian-Moorish foyer below. Auckland Live runs heritage tours between seasons.
Auckland Theatre Company's 675-seat Wynyard Quarter home since 2016, glass-fronted onto Halsey Street with a foyer bar over the water. Seasons pair new Aotearoa writing with Chekhov, Shakespeare and touring dance.
Titirangi's four-level gallery built into the bush behind the 1930 Lopdell House. Programming leans West Auckland — Colin McCahon, Pacific painting, contemporary craft — and the top-floor terrace opens onto the Manukau Harbour.
The village below the gallery is Auckland's bush-fringe arts pocket: an eatery inside Lopdell House, a second-hand bookshop, and the Titirangi Village Market filling the war memorial hall on the last Sunday of the month.
Henderson's 1920s winery buildings turned over to working studios, three galleries, a Pacific dance company and Te Pou, Aotearoa's dedicated Māori theatre. Grounds and galleries open daily; studio doors are often propped open.
A 1915 suburban cinema rescued from demolition and now run as a 700-seat film and music venue — 35mm and 70mm projection, live scores to silent features, the original proscenium intact behind the screen.