Recently Waiheke Local Board endorsed a recommendation by Auckland Council to increase funding for the Gallery to $100,000. This is significant raise from previous funding amounts of $12,000 in 2023 and $20,000 in 2024. This change has been a long time coming and I’d like to acknowledge the considerable mahi that has been contributed from past and current Boards and staff, volunteers, patrons, members, and supporters.

Below is a quote from Cath Handley outlining the history and decision making behind the funding increase.

“The Waiheke Art Gallery has been underfunded by hundreds of thousands a year compared to every other arts venue in the city since well before the formation of the supercity, yet our gallery outperforms most other galleries of similar size and reach by a huge margin. Our local board has advocated to the mayor and governing body for more support from council for more than a decade. Now ‘Fairer Funding’ has meant more funds have come through to the board to deal with historic underfunding matters. We hope the gallery will now be able to staff itself to support more fund-raising and external sponsorship. It’s a great relief to have achieved this outcome.”
                      - Cath Handley, Waiheke Local Board Chair, July 2025.