DEPOT DEVONPORT: THREE DECADES OF ART, MUSIC, AND MAKING IT HAPPEN - JUST A FERRY RIDE AWAY
DEPOT has been shaping the creative life of Tāmaki Makaurau for 30 years, backing creatives, building community, and quietly becoming one of the city’s most vital creative hubs. Now it’s time to make some noise as they celebrate this milestone anniversary.
As public conversations continue about the future of Devonport’s town centre, DEPOT’s 30-year history reflects a place where artists, locals, and visitors have long been showing up, making work, and opening minds. For three decades, it has been a constant presence, grounded in creativity, access, and community connection. The recent multimillion-dollar purchase of Devonport commercial buildings by Peninsula Capital signals ambitious plans to transform Devonport into a vibrant destination.
Over the years, DEPOT has been a cornerstone of creative development, and has supported artists across all mediums including the likes of Finn Andrews (The Veils), Kimbra, Bic Runga, Gin Wigmore, The Checks, and Racing, as well as thousands of other musical and visual artists; and creatives of all types, while keeping its doors open to first timers and future stars. Today, that support extends well beyond exhibitions and performances. Through its Creative Careers programme, DEPOT supports around 200 unemployed creatives into employment pathways each year, providing practical routes into sustainable creative work.
“Congratulations to DEPOT on an incredible 30 years of championing creativity in our community. For three decades, DEPOT has been a vital home for artists, makers, and audiences — nurturing talent, supporting local enterprise, and creating opportunities for people of all ages to connect through art. DEPOT’s impact reaches far beyond its gallery walls, strengthening community wellbeing, showcasing the richness of Aotearoa’s creative voices, and helping make Devonport and the wider North Shore such a vibrant place to live and visit. Thank you to the team, artists, supporters, and volunteers who have helped build DEPOT into the treasured institution it is today. Here’s to the next 30 years of creativity, connection, and community.” says Councillor Richard Hills, Auckland Council.
Following a dramatic flood in 2024, DEPOT revitalised the former Council Borough building at 3 Victoria Road, transforming it into a thriving creative space that now houses a gallery, art shop, retail store, ceramics studio, and nine artist studios upstairs.
The move has strengthened DEPOT’s presence in the town centre and expanded the ways artists and the public can connect with creativity every day. On any given day, you’ll find exhibitions opening, music being recorded, clay being fired, artists workshopping ideas, and people of all ages learning something new.
In 2025 alone, DEPOT delivered 26 exhibitions, 106 public workshops and events, and supported 249 artists across DEPOT Artspace, DEPOT Lounge, Whare Toi, and 3 Victoria Road. DEPOT also launched Devonport’s First Thursdays, working with local businesses and organisations to deliver a suite of creative activations and events on the First Thursday of every month. This is culture in motion—committed, dynamic, and reaching beyond gallery walls to the local and creative communities.
“DEPOT is about people and supporting creative ambition,” says Director Amy Saunders, who has led the organisation since 2020. “It’s about making space for artists to take risks, build skills, connect with others, and keep going. When creativity thrives, communities do too.”
DEPOT’s 30th year kicks off with a stacked programme across art, sound, and community activations. Exhibitions range from deeply personal kaupapa Māori work and migrant youth perspectives, to ceramics, photography, performance, and movement adjacent art projects.
Below is what’s coming up through the end of March, with quarterly updates to follow.
COMING UP AT DEPOT: JANUARY – MARCH 2026
Fang Art Studio: Line, Light and Belonging II
28 January – 26 February 2026 | DEPOT Lounge, 28 Clarence Street, Devonport
Young artists from migrant families explore identity, memory, and belonging through sensitive pencil drawings that capture light and form.
Ashleigh Zimmerman: Whare Ngaro
31 January – 28 February 2026 | DEPOT Artspace, 28 Clarence Street, Devonport
A powerful exhibition exploring infertility through a wāhine Māori lens, using photography to provoke dialogue about whakapapa and lineage.
Audrey Goggin & Anoushka Wallis Lewis: hā
20 February – 22 March 2026 | DEPOT, 3 Victoria Road, Devonport
A ceramic and cyanotype collaboration that explores breath, life force, and vitality in the natural world. Opening and artist talk Friday 20 February, 6–7:30pm. Artist talk 6:30pm.
Isabella Young: Wildflowers
4 – 30 March 2026 | DEPOT Lounge
A visual love letter to the changing seasons, combining analogue photography and painting to celebrate impermanence, renewal, and coexistence with nature.
Joanna Cook & Steve Lovett: (il)legible Inkscription
7 – 28 March 2026 | DEPOT Artspace
An interactive exploration of language as palimpsest on the body, merging print and choreography through embodied scores. Exhibition opening and performance Saturday 7 March, 2–4pm.
Verity Kindleysides: Inside the Garden – Takarunga / Maungauika – Takararo
27 March – 26 April 2026 | DEPOT, 3 Victoria Road, Devonport
A reinterpretation of the Devonport peninsula’s three maunga chain through jewel like gardens, inspired by Pat Hanly’s Inside the Garden series. Opening and artist talk Friday 27 March, 6–7:30pm.
Workshops & Classes
Whare Toi, 28 Kerr Street, Devonport
Term One and Two, 2026
Painting, drawing, printmaking, and object making for all ages.
Young Artist Nights
DEPOT Lounge | Quarterly
Showcasing emerging local talent across visual arts, music, dance, performance, and spoken word in a supportive, themed environment.
First Thursdays Devonport / Te Hau Kapua
First Thursday of every month
Join DEPOT and local artists for workshops, performances, and events alongside special activations by other local businesses.
Thirty years on, DEPOT remains a place where ideas are tested, careers are launched, and creativity is part of everyday life. As it looks ahead, DEPOT is focused on telling its story more boldly and inviting more people to be part of it.