2015 marks Wellington’s 150th year as the capital. This exhibition commemorates that with a unique and entertaining look at the city and its people from 1840 to the present, through the medium of portraiture.

No other exhibition has ever presented such a range of Wellingtonians. The aim is not to show off a famous 50, or an objectively defined “Makers of Wellington,” although it certainly includes many of those. Rather, it introduces the city through a selection of the well-known and the obscure, the infamous as well as the famous. There are politicians and Governor Generals, entrepreneurs and public servants, writers and scholars, artists, soldiers, criminals, protesters, performers of all kinds, and more.

Some of the portraits will be familiar, others have never been exhibited before. Many of the artists are well-known, others are anonymous. Their portraits are all good to look at, and all have stories to tell. We are sure you will come out of this exhibition knowing more than you did before about the lively history of Wellington.