Central Stories Museum & Art Gallery

25/08/2026

🌩️ RED SPRITES — A Talk with Peter McLeish

📅 Saturday 12 September, 5:00pm

While Winterstellar looks at the stars, this talk looks at something stranger — fleeting red flares that leap above thunderstorms, invisible to the naked eye and dismissed as pilots' tales until 1989. Canadian multi-media artist Peter McLeish shares two decades spent turning this rare atmospheric phenomenon into art, in collaboration with meteorologists linked to NASA's Space Shuttle missions.

🎟️ Free entry — koha/donation welcome. Tickets via Humanitix, or RSVP to [email protected]
📍 Winterstellar exhibition and Red Sprites talk at Central Stories Museum & Art Gallery, 21 Centennial Avenue, Alexandra

Come for the exhibition, stay for the talk — a whole season dedicated to the wonders above us. ✨

21/08/2026

21/08/2026

makes sure you get your tickets for Liz Conway and Friends - Friday 4th September from 7:30pm until 9:30pm at Coronation Hall, Bannockburn.
Ticket Link: http://lizconwaymusic.co.nz/music

15/08/2026

🐑 WoolOn Community Expo is coming to Central Stories!
Sunday 30 August | 10am–4pm | Gold Coin Entry | All Welcome
WoolOn 2026 sold out five weeks in advance — but the Community Expo means everyone gets a piece of the action!
Fresh from Saturday night's prize-giving, the winning garments arrive at Central Stories and go straight on display — up close, on mannequins, ready to wow you. This year features a record number of children's entries! 🎉
On the day you can expect:
✨ Winning garments on display — fresh from the catwalk
🎬 WoolOn 2026 Gala highlights footage screening all day
🎤 Judges Insights Session — hear directly from the judges! 12.30pm, Alexandra Cinema. Free, but limited seats — first in, first seated!
🛍️ Artisan trader stalls — high end, high country wool goods
🧶 Live demonstrations from the Alexandra Creative Fibre Group — spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet and more. Have a go!
✂️ Hands-on workshops at Community House (across the road) — Needle Felting, Wool Embroidery, and Harakeke Weaving. $10 per session, selling out fast! Book at [email protected]
This is Alexandra at its best. Don't miss it!
📍 Central Stories Museum & Art Gallery, 21 Centennial Ave, Alexandra

12/08/2026

This exhibition looks amazing!! Congratulations Andy and the Winterstellar team 🎆⭐️
You’ve done it again!!
Come on down to Central Stories to check it out!! 🎉

12/08/2026

31/07/2026

Just got this book into Central Stories shop, so come on down and purchase your copy. I’ve only read snippets so far but It’s shaping up to be a really interesting read 🤩

This giveaway has now closed and a winner has been chosen.

📚 GIVEAWAY 📚

We are celebrating the launch of ‘Digging Deep: Women on New Zealand’s goldfields’ by Julia Bradshaw, published by Canterbury University Press.

The goldfields of 19th century Aotearoa New Zealand are often remembered as almost exclusively male places. But women were there too, building businesses, raising families and, in some cases, mining for gold themselves.

Drawing on 30 years of research, 'Digging Deep’ brings their fascinating and often forgotten stories to life. It introduces the women who established stores, ran and owned hotels, became successful businesswomen, worked as barmaids and dancers, and raised children in challenging conditions, sometimes as widows or deserted wives.

Julia Bradshaw will also be talking about her book at the WORD festival on Sunday 6 September.

To enter:

📖Follow of Canterbury

📖 Like this post

📖Tell us what you’re hoping to discover by reading this book in the comments below.

Entries close Friday 31 July. Winner will be contacted via DM. Details in comments.

31/07/2026

Jane Malthus, who is involved with organising this amazing fundraiser has just spent 6 days at Central Stories, with her other hat on as garment history curator, sorting and carefully boxing our garments in our collection. She had such an amazing knowledge of not only good museum practise on how to store these priceless artifacts, but on the garment itself. The era it came from, what it was made of etc. We have been truly lucky to have her in our collections!! 🤩🌻

This fundraiser looks a lot of fun for those fashion enthusiasts, so please support 😁

Fashion Lovers!!! We are so excited to promote an awesome fundraising event on behalf of the iD Dunedin Fashion Week people! This event showcases a captivating journey through fashion from the 1960s to the early 2000s, featuring a collection of designer garments and personal wardrobe treasures.

Fashion is more than what we wear - it’s a time capsule of our lives. From school uniforms and first party dresses to wedding gowns, work uniforms, and beloved hand-knitted jerseys, our wardrobes hold memories of who we were, who we wanted to be, and the moments we’ll never forget.
Join us for a unique fundraising event that journeys through fashion history from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Through a remarkable collection of designer garments and personal wardrobe treasures, archiveD invites you to revisit the styles, trends, and cultural moments that shaped generations.
Labels on show will include Carlson, NOM*d, Nicholas Blanchet, Fenn Dell, Pour Vous Haute Couture, Yule Gowns, Siltex, Kevin Berkahn, Miss Cantwell, Lewis Townsend, Colin Cole, L’Officiel, Peppertree, Miranda Brown, Marilyn Sainty, Zambesi and many more.
archiveD is a celebration of fashion, memory, and the stories stitched into every garment, proudly sponsored by McMillan & Co.
Tickets are $150 and available from iTicket: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2026/aug/archived

22/07/2026

🎨📚 A very special visitor yesterday!
Yesterday we had the honour of welcoming one of New Zealand's most beloved children's authors to Central Stories — the wonderful Pauline Cartwright.
Pauline was born in Lawrence, grew up in Oamaru, and made her home here in Alexandra — dreaming of being a writer from the age of nine and going on to publish dozens of novels, picture books, stories and poems for children. Her work has shaped the reading lives of generations of New Zealand children, and she has been recognised with many honours and awards.
What many people may not know is that Pauline wrote a children's book, inspired by the extraordinary Russell Clark gold rush panels that now hang in our Henderson Gallery. and are part of our collection. That book — Dougal is a Hero! — was written in 2012 but never published at the time. This year, Central Stories finally brought it into the world, and it is now available in our gallery shop.
Yesterday Pauline came to see the exhibition and the book she wrote, brought to life at last. It was my very first time meeting her and I was truly honoured. What an extraordinary woman and what an extraordinary story.
If you haven't visited the exhibition yet — or picked up a copy of Dougal is a Hero! — please do come in. Every copy sold supports Central Stories directly.
📍 Henderson Gallery, Central Stories, Alexandra
📅 On now until 30 July 2026
🕘 Open daily 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
🎟️ Free entry
Ngā mihi ki a koe Pauline — thank you 💛