Inside Toi Aro: Wellington’s new arts hub opens its doors
Saturday, 13 June 2026
A new chapter for Wellington’s arts community begins next week when Toi Aro officially opens in its new Market Lane location.
The Wellington City Council-funded facility replaces Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, bringing artists, arts organisations and public performance spaces together under one roof in the heart of the city.
The Post got a tour of the 3 Market Lane site ahead of its opening, to get a look at some of the services and spaces it offers.
Situated on the former Te Aro Pā, the arts centre’s new name was gifted by mana whenua.
Read more:
Creative NZ proposes to cut 23 jobs in ‘sweeping’ restructure
As Eurovision expands into Asia, where does New Zealand fit?
Toi Aro is a Tiriti-led facility that replaces Toi Pōneke, two neighbouring buildings on Abel Smith St in Wellington that were home to the arts centre since 2005.
The council agreed to a 20-year lease of the new Market Lane site and budgeted $6 million to fit it out across three floors including a mezzanine.
The Market Lane site is significantly smaller than Abel Smith St (1959m² across three levels, versus the previous 2850m² across two buildings), however it has improved accessibility and vibrancy.
Its ground floor features a gallery with moveable walls so artists can configure the space how they want, a modernised reception, a projection wall, a workshop area for things like welding and fumigation, a retail space, a cultural/pōwhiri (welcoming) area, and a hireable dance studio/acoustic room.
The building features studio space for artists in residence, an accessible emergency system that caters to those with disabilities, accessible bathrooms, and a kitchen.
On the upper levels are nine individual and group artist studios, storage and green rooms, a hireable black box drama rehearsal/performance space, six offices for organisations, a communal hotspot and lounge area, meeting rooms, phone booths, and a large common area with cafe-style seating that will be trialled as open to the public during the day.
The common area upstairs, which has dramatic views of the Michael Fowler Centre and the quays, will be rented out as an event space in the evenings.
The building will be accessible to tenants between 6am and midnight daily.
Long-term office tenants, who were selected by an external panel, will have a three-year lease, with a right to renew for another three years.
Toi Aro has a tuakana-teina (older sibling-younger sibling) model, and during the assessment process priority was given to groups that emphasised mentor-mentee relationships.
“That’s a big kaupapa for us. We’re here to grow the sector. Not just to produce the arts, but to actually support the arts,” said Toi Aro’s manager Grace Hoete.
For its rented artist studios, individuals will have a one-year lease and right of renewal for another year. Artists are able to paint their studios, provided they paint it back when they leave (paint will be supplied by Toi Aro).
Hoete said it was important the public could access Toi Aro - to explore its gallery that will open from July, its retail space, and to mingle with its resident artists and arts organisations in common areas.
Public performances will also be held in Toi Aro. The first one will be Waenga, produced by Jim Moriarty’s Te Rākau theatre company.
People are able to use common areas after signing in at reception.
“We’ve tried to keep everything as open as possible for all the tenants, as well as for the whole of our arts sector,” Hoete said. “We’ve designed it purposely so that the public and the arts sector can come and go as they feel.”
Hoete hoped Toi Aro would be more connected to the city’s arts ecosystem with both Te Papa and the Michael Fowler Centre short walks away. “We’re excited to be part of this network, and to open the doors to everyone.”
Tenants started moving in on Friday, June 12, and it officially opens its doors to the public on June 19.
A new era
Richard Benge, executive director of Arts Access Aotearoa, one of the tenants moving from Toi Pōneke to Toi Aro, said he was excited about being in a fully accessible and safe space that was both lighter and had flexibility for events.
“Wellington is the only city I know about that has a council-sponsored large arts hub for artists and arts organisations, where events can also happen. … It’s a great investment in what we need, because we are the creative capital. This is a good change,” Benge said.
Mark Amery, an arts journalist, critic and commentator, said he appreciated how open and welcoming the former Toi Pōneke buildings were to artists and their supporters.
Toi Pōneke Gallery also came at a critical time for Wellington City, Amery said. “It spoke to the care and rigour of the gallery’s curation. Like others I’ll be watching Toi Aro carefully to see if it can maintain these special Welly qualities.”
Dawn Sanders, chief executive of the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, a tenant of Toi Pōneke that is not moving into the new Toi Aro space, said Market Lane didn’t meet the centre’s requirements for office or storage space.
The Shakespeare centre would remain in the west Abel Smith St building, which it’s understood for now is being kept open as hireable accommodation.
Sanders said the collegiality over the past two decades at Toi Pōneke “has resulted in many collaborations between the wide range of arts practitioners and organisations across the two buildings”.
Prior to Abel Smith St, the council arts centre was headquartered in the Oriental Bay Band Rotunda.