Fifteen seconds: according to a number of surveys, that's the amount of time the "average" viewer spends looking at a painting and accompanying text.

The title of the first concert of APO's Bayleys Great Classics series was a giveaway: a "Grand Tour", firmly locked into a European itinerary.

Helen Van Berkel discovers the perfect place for Mother's Day - or any special occasion.

Much exciting contemporary art aims not to promote meaning or message but rather to engage the eye with new visual experience.

Taking dance to provinces and to the young is company focus.

The universe is your oyster with these "try this at home" activities, writes Sarah Ell.

One of the most popular exhibitions at the Mairangi Arts Centre, on Auckland's North Shore, is now on.

Comedian Paul Ego has passed on the gift of the gab to his boy Gabe. Father and son talk to Dionne Christian

Stage show brings 80's movie Flashdance to life, writes Dionne Christian.

Artists delve in to expression embracing their interpretation of mankind.

Auckland artist Flox speaks to Dionne Christian about her children's book collaboration.

Auckland's 'Off Broadway' institution puts on a bumper weekend, writes William Dart.

Big things are set to roar in to the spotlight on stage at the Bruce Mason Centre, writes Dionne Christian.

Tim Bray appreciates the past of Auckland's theatre industry and how it has become home.

Male choirs can have an advantage over their female counterparts when it comes to octaves, but women's voices in harmony have always had a unique appeal for composers.

The guide for those who want to avoid children over the school holidays and the guide for those who do. And can't.

Sarah Ell takes a look at school holiday options outside the city, offering action, art, surf and a sanctuary.

Last year, it staged 111 shows - 62 in its regular programme, 23 in the Fringe, 26 in the NZ Comedy Festival and more than 100 "other" events.

There are three strikingly inter-cultural exhibitions in Auckland; two of them at Te Uru Waitakere Art Gallery.

Today, NZ Opera turns up the roller door at its Onehunga Technical Centre for an open day everyone is invited to.

Just metres away, a giraffe spreads its front legs wide and lowers its long neck for a drink.

A couple of years ago, playwright Roger Hall well and truly put the "grand" into grandparenting.

One of the largest cultural hubs to be developed in the world could be influenced by one of Auckland's smallest theatres, The Basement.

My father was from a whanau of oyster merchants in Bluff, but my mother's paternal family were the first family of Devonport: the Wynyards.

COMMENT: Andrew J. Steel has painted the wall of 4 Gundry St in Auckland three times during the past few years.