News
The Y Southland turns 150 this month, and it wants your face on the wall.
On Friday October 16, The Y opens its Tay Street doors for 150 Faces of The Y — a free public exhibition celebrating a century and a half of the YMCA in Southland, and the people who made it what it is. Doors open at 3pm and close at 6pm.
Over the past month, the Southland community answered a call to nominate the people who shaped The Y. The result is 149 portraits, each one carrying a story. The 150th spot has been deliberately left blank — for whoever walks through the door on the day.
Visitors can step up to a Polaroid station, snap their photo and add it to the wall. Everyone who does goes in the draw to win a year's gym membership at The Y, plus a prize pack from Shoe Clinic and JB Hi-Fi Invercargill.
The exhibition is presented in partnership with the transitional public art gallery, turning a space normally associated with sport, fitness and play into something closer to a community archive. There's a candy bar for building your own nostalgic snack mix while you browse, face painting for kids, and a DJ keeping the afternoon moving.
Y Southland chief executive Steve Broad said the project uncovered far more than the team anticipated.
"We knew capturing 150 years of legacy, impact and community reach, was going to be ambitious. What we didn't fully appreciate was just how many layers of memories, relationships and stories we would uncover across Southland," Broad said.
"One story led to another story, and one connection led to another connection. We heard about dances at the YMCA in the 1960s, camps and courses, lifelong friendships, long-standing gym members, new skills, education pathways, and mentors who changed the direction of someone's life."
The range of what came back — decades of memories, from 1960s dances to current gym regulars — speaks to how deeply the organisation has embedded itself across generations of Southland life. Founded in 1876 as the Invercargill YMCA, The Y now runs youth services, education programmes, a fitness centre, stadium, rock climbing facilities and the Omaui outdoor camp.
"We have been both reminded yet blown away by the depth of The Y's impact and the many different ways it has reached into people's lives across generations," Broad said. "Pulling even a reflection of that into one exhibition, in such a short time, has been an incredibly challenging, but deeply rewarding and fulfilling task for our team.
"We know 150 faces could never capture every person or every story, but we are phenomenally excited to welcome Southlanders into The Y on Tay Street and share this reflection of the remarkable legacy our community has created."
Entry is free. For anyone who can't make Friday, the exhibition stays up for viewing on Monday October 19 and Tuesday October 20.