Busy year for Whanganui artist gets busier with opening of new gallery in Ministry of Works building

Local artist Mel Fleet is opening her own gallery at the old Ministry of Works Building. Photo / Bevan Conley

A busy year for Whanganui artist Melanie Fleet continues to get busier as she is set to open up a new gallery in the city.

The Fleetingfancy Gallery will be in the old Ministry of Works Building on Taupo Quay.

Fleet said she had looked to set up a gallery as a way to display all her works from the past couple of years in one place.

“Because I’m creating fulltime, I’ve had regular exhibitions, but I’d like a space where my art can be regularly so people can come, and if they want a Melanie Fleet original they can come and see me,” Fleet said.

The manager of the building, Shane Hobson, was also keen for the building to become that kind of community space.

For now, Fleet said the gallery would feature only her work.

“So a lot of the assemblage art and the queer-themed portraiture and things like that, but moving forward I’m moving more into portraits,” she said.

However, in the future, Fleet hoped it could become a collective with many artists displaying their work for sale in the space.

Artists who would be interested in also displaying their works should get in touch with Fleet.

“People come and go, so if someone’s really keen to get involved then we will have a chat and see where that goes.”

It had been a busy year for her, during which she held four major exhibitions across the Central North Island and organised an exhibition featuring a range of queer art in Whanganui.

Fleet’s goal was to get to the point of holding one exhibition a month, and already has two booked for the new year.

“I’m still not where I want to be, but who is really ... I’m really enjoying this journey as a fulltime artist.”

She also moved into the Ministry of Works building in August, having previously worked out of a caravan.

Compared with that, she said, the studio space in the building was a marked improvement.

“It’s much better than a caravan.

“It’s a lot better to even have someone to say hi to, we’ve had a few interesting chats around art or even just perspective on life,” she said.

The gallery will be open from 10am to 2pm, Thursday to Saturday.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.