Become a Friend
The Friends of Waikato Museum & Gallery are part of the wider Museum family and their support enables the Museum to flourish and grow.
Join the Friends for as little as $20 a year, meet like-minded people, receive invitations to special events and openings and enjoy a range of discounts and concessions.
Membership Form
Start (or renew) your membership by filling out this online form:
Friends of the Museum & Gallery membership [opens in new window]
For more information, contact the Membership Secretary on museumfriends.subscriptions@gmail.com or 07 838 6417.
Membership Benefits
- Friends of Waikato Museum & Gallery newsletters and advance exhibition information
- Invitations to exclusive Friends‘ exhibition openings at the Museum
- Invitations to Friends’ bus trips to galleries, museums and sculpture parks
- 10% off the admission fee to the Museum’s paid exhibitions, events and activities
- 10% discount at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato’s shop
- 10% discount on beer from Hamilton Beer & Wine Co
- 12.5% discount on wine from Hamilton Beer & Wine Co
- 10% discount at Poppies Bookshop Hamilton
- 10% discount at Gordon Harris Art and Graphic Supplies
- 10% discount at Auteur House DVD/video rentals
- 10% discount at Hood Street Bistro
Friends Events
As a Friend of the Museum & Gallery, you will receive invites to exclusive events and exhibition previews.
What does it cost to be a Friend?
- Individual $30
- Joint $50 - Any 2 individuals under the age of 65, does not have to be a couple (e.g. mother and daughter)
- Concession $20 - Super Gold Card holder, full-time student, etc
- Family $60 - Any combination of family members (e.g. grandmother and grandchildren). The group gets 4 membership cards that they can share
*rates as of 1 January 2025
What the Friends funds are used for
The Friends of the Museum & Gallery raise funds to support Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery to "flourish and grow".
Traditionally, over many years, the Friends have gifted works of art to the collection but as storage space has reached capacity, we have worked with our Director, Liz Cotton, to expand the variety of our gifts.
Recent contributions include:
- A Merit Award Prize ($2000) at the biennial National Contemporary Art Award
- Children’s Day performers in music and science ($1000)
- Conservation of paintings from Museum collection ($5000)
- Refurbishment of the lower floor of Exscite ($5000)
- Professional development scholarship for Museum staff ($3000)
By becoming a Friend, you are contributing to the many activities the Committee undertakes to make our Museum a welcoming and educational asset to our city.
Collection conservation
In 2024 the Friends generously funded the conservation of two artworks from the Museum's collection.
- 'Matika Whakarua', 1939, by Charles Goldie (1870-1947)
- 'Maori Pah', 1900, by William George Baker (1864-1929)
These works were assessed as needing conservation by the Museum's collection managers and were transported to a specialist painting conservator located in Auckland.
The focus of the conservation work for Goldie's Matika Whakarua was the correcting of buckling and deformations, which were the result of the paper labels being glued to the back of the canvas in the past. It also required the removal of surface dirt which had accumulated over time.
The painting Maori Pah had notable discoloration due to varnish which had been previously applied, as well as a number of scratches and areas of paint loss. For the conservation process, the artwork was removed from its frame and stretcher. The old varnish was removed by the conservator, the surface cleaned, and scratches filled. It was re-stretched and a new layer of varnish was applied.