The gallery, which serves the West Auckland region, was originally opened within Lopdell House in 1986.

[6][7] Clifford's departure was announced at the end of 2022, and he took on his next role as Director of the Sarjeant Gallery in March 2023.

Many external curators have realised independent projects at Te Uru and Lopdell House Gallery, including Ron Brownson, Karl Chitham, Moyra Elliot, Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins, Haru Sameshima, Peter Simpson, Linda Tyler and Ian Wedde.

Damian Skinner was curator of the exhibitions Hattaway, Schoon, Walters: Madness and Modernism (1997) and Steve Rumsey and the Camera Club Movement 1948-64 (2003).

[12][13] Major exhibitions staged since the gallery's 2014 re-opening include Seung Yul Oh's HaPoom, Janet Lilo's Janet Lilo: Status Update, Caroline McQuarrie's No Town, and Judy Millar's site-specific installation The Model World.