Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has given her stamp of approval to the city's public art gallery, and says it is now time Tauranga got its own museum.
Ms Clark, her father George Clark and her husband Dr Peter Davis, took a tour of the gallery yesterday, and the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend was invited to join them.
A relaxed Ms Clark spent a lot of the tour taking photographs of the exhibits on her iPhone, and sharing her thoughts about the sculptures and paintings.
Ms Clark, who officially opened the gallery in October 2007, said she was particularly impressed with the current exhibition Corrugations: The Art of Jeff Thomson, and ranks Mr Thomson as one of her favourite artists.
"It's amazing. Jeff Thomson is one of this country's most creative artists, he's internationally famous. A lot of people won't know but about seven or eight years ago on behalf of New Zealand I gifted one of his corrugated kiwis to the Berlin Zoo where they breed kiwis. He is very popular in Germany."