Dowse Art Museum

The Dowse opened in 1971 and made a decision early that has defined it: rather than compete with the national institutions on painting, it built its collection around craft and applied arts, and it now holds one of the more significant public collections of contemporary New Zealand jewellery, ceramics, textiles and object-making in the country - fields that most public galleries treat as secondary. It also collects Maori and Pacific art and contemporary work more broadly. The building was substantially redeveloped in 2007 with a new entrance and galleries, and it sits beside the Lower Hutt civic centre. Entry is free, which for a collection of this quality is worth noting, and it has a good cafe and a children's programme that makes it a standard family destination in the Hutt Valley. It is fifteen minutes from central Wellington by train and consistently missed by visitors who never leave the city.

What you actually see

• The jewellery collection - contemporary New Zealand work, unusually deep.
• The craft holdings - ceramics, textiles and object-making.
• Maori and Pacific art - collected alongside the craft.
• The 2007 building - the redeveloped galleries and entrance.

When to go

Any season - indoors and free. Check the exhibition programme; the collection displays rotate. Easy by train from Wellington.

Honest expectations

Free, but it is a suburban museum in Lower Hutt rather than a city-centre destination - you have to make the trip. Displays rotate, so specific collection works may not be showing.

Nearby

Lower Hutt civic centre is adjacent; Wellington is fifteen minutes by train.