The Centre for Contemporary Art

The Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), in Hamilton, New Zealand, was the first permanent home for the Chartwell Collection, and followed an earlier informal arrangement between the Waikato Museum and Chartwell to hold works at that Museum. The Centre for Contemporary Art, now closed, was developed in a building acquired for the purpose, the old Hamilton Hotel, the renovation of which became the subject for  commissioned photographic documentary portfolios by photographers Robin Morrison and Kees Sprengers.

The CCA rapidly became a site for art discourse in New Zealand, with its programme of non-commercial New Zealand and Australian exhibitions. It provided a national alternative artspace and was committed to growing a local audience for contemporary art. The exhibition programme facilitated the collecting of works.

An annual Chartwell Collection exhibition served to highlight new acquisitions from the Collection which increasingly included works by Australian artists rarely seen in New Zealand at this time. Often visiting New Zealand for the first time, a number of Australian artists installed exhibitions at the gallery including Victor Majzner, John Nixon, Jenny Watson, Stephen Bram and Melinda Harper. Over thirteen years, approximately one hundred and fifty exhibitions were held at the gallery.