It exhibits the collection of Christchurch philanthropists and art collectors Jim and Susan Wakefield, and opened to the public on 8 November 2021.

In 1995 they began work on a home, called Ravenscar House after a village near Susan Wakefield's birthplace, which would also hold their art collection.

[3][4] The couple decided to use the insurance payments on the house to fund the design and build of a gallery in central Christchurch.

[7] The high gables were intended to align with the neo-Gothic forms of the nearby Christchurch Arts Centre and Canterbury Museum The gardens were designed by landscape architect Suzanne Turley.

[8] The collection comprises paintings, sculpture, designer furniture and antiquities, and includes works by Ralph Hotere, Colin McCahon, Frances Hodgkins, Charles Goldie, Garry Nash and Paul Dibble.