The Sarjeant Art Gallery's collection of art works is under threat unless the gallery is upgraded, according to senior curator Greg Anderson.
And Mr Anderson said Wanganui missed out on touring art shows because the gallery's poor environmental controls could not guarantee the safety of exhibits.
Environmental control is one of a list of improvements that would be made to the gallery in a proposed $19 million redevelopment. Earthquake strengthening - work costing $6 million alone - and increased space for storage, retail, educational programmes and functions were the other items which would be included in the upgrade. Mr Anderson said permanent collections kept in the gallery were at risk of deterioration due to the inability to adequately control temperature and humidity.
"It varies on the type of art. But if we could introduce the right environmental conditions, the deterioration process would stop immediately," Mr Anderson said.
He said top-quality touring exhibitions that would normally visit Wanganui regularly gave the Sarjeant Gallery a miss because the environmental controls did not meet high industry standards.