Building gets brand new name

The opening of the redeveloped Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery next year will come with a new name.

Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott announced yesterday it will be known as MTG Hawke's Bay, a simplified reference to the three key elements of the institution - Museum, Theatre and Gallery.

Auckland company Beehive Creative was contracted to review and revitalise the HBMAG gallery and museum branding and director Justin Clow said reference to the theatre ingredient had been missing from the former name.

"The new brand has a unique voice that reflects the modernity of the new spaces while paying homage to the heritage of the existing structures," Mr Clow said.

The change had the blessing of HBMAG director Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins who said the name change reflected a desire to create a brand that took the building and what it represents into the future.

While names like the Century, for the theatre, would be retained in the new brand architecture they would still be open to the possibility of sponsorship.

The museum, which has operated under a range of names since its inception in 1859, began as the Hawke's Bay Mechanics Institute.

It was known as the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute between 1874 and 1935, the Hawke's Bay Art Gallery & Museum between 1936 and 1988, the Hawke's Bay Museum between 1988 and 2006, and the Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery from 2006.

Costing about $18 million to redevelop, it is set to open in September 2013.