Bunker Cartoon Gallery

Interesting place to visit and lovely stuff. The lady in cafe even dressed up as Dora for our kids to take pics with, which was very nice.

What a little hidden gem this place is.
Definitely my favourite place while visiting Coffs Harbour recently. Great staff, great atmosphere, absolutely wonderful atmosphere. Loved everything about this place.

Not what we expected, where told it was big on superheros. More if you like the old Phantom cartoon comics

Really loved this! Free entry, WWII bunker, great cartoons, friendly staff, what more could anyone want!? !

Interesting and educational on the history of cartoons, allow up to 2hours to see what is available, staff are helpful and courteous, recommend this gallery.

A gallery set in a WW2 bunker sounds pretty cool, and it is! Not a big gallery but really interesting for both the physical space and the collection. Add a lovely café, a sun-dappled balcony, a nice gallery shop and lovely staff and it's more than worth a visit. Highly recommended)

The new building is great, and the coffee shop is a good addition. The lady running it was very welcoming and friendly.

Wow.what a fantastic gallery. The current exhibition is spectacular. Stay for lunch or a snack at the Cafe. We also found Australian made products in the gift shop. If you're in Coffs Harbour you must visit this gem.

Can I say not what I was expecting. It was even better. Perfect the fact it was indoors as we arrived as it started to rain.
With the Bunkers original history shared and the cartoon display. It really brought the two together.
Craft table for our daughter as well who was a little to young to understand.
Something for the young and old. Brought back memories and I thought of times with my Grandparents and how next time I should take them as well. Lift to access upstairs display.

Fascinating place, especially the exhibit showing the evolution of cartoon creation. As always, the political satire was comical and on point.

What great and friendly people!
We learnt that this gallery was in a World War ii bunker amazing! We could even watch a short video that gave us more background. It's a must see when in Coffs Harbour. The gallery is beautifully setup and have cartoons of Ginger Meggs (Australian) from the 1930's. It also possess multi cartoons from different artists that's sharp and witty.

Had a huge Bill leak display upstairs.interesting history being built over a WW2 bunker.worth a visit.so do yourself a favour

On entering the gallery unmasked in line with the Nsw Gov exemption and Public Health Requirements the volunteer (named Chris) yelled at me. I jumped with such a fright and she told me to stand back. The nearest person was more than 1.5 metres. She scorned me saying I couldn’t be there without a mask. She was extremely rude, had a horrible attitude, and literally huffed and puffed at me. I said for medical reasons I had legal exemption for no mask. She made it very clear I was not welcome and did not believe such a thing existed. I referred her to the Nsw Gov website stating legal existence of exemptions and offered to help her to look it up. She cracked it and storms off to speak to her manager.

She returns, speaking to me in the same manner, and asks me for the letter from my dr. I said I don’t have one as per the Nsw Gov link. I asked if she’d had a chance to view it the Nsw Gov link. She snapped at me that her manager would have to look into it.

I attempted to summarize what the law states in relation to mask guidelines and directives. However, she continued to berate, talk over and scorn me repeating that they’re just volunteers and don’t need to hear about it, no ones ever come in before without a mask, and wanted to get us out of there as quick as possible.

During this time, Chris was too self-righteous to be aware that her behaviour was causing my carer to have a panic attack at Chris’s treatment of me. She had difficulty breathing and her glasses began fogging. She was too afraid to take off her mask and take deep breaths in case she became Chris’s target.

I swiftly changed the subject to annual memberships, my carer signed up and this distraction eased her breathing. Obviously, I did not sign up nor enter the gallery given the incident.

I did not want another person or their companions to endure this treatment again so on exiting I attempted to clarify and reconcile the matter:

I said “I understand you’re a volunteer, however you need to be aware. ”
Chris rudely begins speaking over me and shutting me off again, disinterested in the law.
I said “please let me finish.under the disability and privacy acts your business can be fined. ”
Chris snapped and cut me off again.
I said again, more firmly as I am a kind and quietly spoken lady, “please let me finish.up to $40,000. You also cannot ask the person what their medical exemption is for. ”
Chris says “I never asked you that! ”
I reminded her she did.
I said “moving forward from the laws surrounding businesses and masks, you have also been extremely rude to us from the moment I walked in the door. ”
She cut me off again! Snapping that she had done no such thing.
I continued “you actually yelled at me and scorned me for wearing for no mask and. ”
Unbelievably, she cuts me off again “I have not been rude to you, this is all extremely hard for us, we are just volunteers”
I said “excuse me, you have been hostile to me and continue to do so right now. You have attitude with me and constantly speak over me. Your capacity being paid or volunteer has no impact on whether you breach the act or treat a customer with respect or not. It’s actually extremely hard for ME. I am the one with the medical condition. I was here to support local business, not be verbally attacked. ”

Chris turned around her attitude for the brief remainder of the visit. I was able to ask the questions that I’d had about the current exhibitions and she then spoke to me the way she had spoken to the masked customers.

Chris’s treatment towards us today was extremely traumatic, it caused huge emotional distress to both myself and my carer solely due to the gross conduct of this staff member. I will never be attending the business, nor recommending any person with a medical condition or disability, like myself, do.

I request management provide immediate training to all staff regarding the state and federal laws for no masks (which also applies to QR code’s). Next time I will take it to the media with legal action.

A very personal place to go to, you would have to like humor which is expressed in the art work. It is not my cup of tea but l am sure it would be suitable for a lot of other people who like that sense of humor.

We heard about the gallery via Johannes Leak, who has curated some of his dad's and own work. It's the perfect size for a couple of hours tour, and the coffee shop on the top level is a great place to rest your legs and grab a cuppa.

The gallery also accepts Dine and Discover vouchers, so a family can visit for as little as a few dollars.

We'll be back next time we're in Coffs!

A group of us went to the Bunker Cafe and it was excellent. The service and meal was top notch.

The plaque to Barilaro says it all. Here is a warehouse for bought and paid for pens. There is no art or integrity here. What a waste.

Staff are friendly and informative! Interesting collections. Was here a few years ago and I think the upgraded and new facilities are fantastic.
Last time I was in they had a fascinating show on the history of Ginger Megs. With the two gallery spaces now they had two exhibitions.
Entry is very accessible with a lift to get up to the 2nd floor.

I wish we could give a good review, because we were holidaying in the pouring rain and desperate for any entertainment. We were all very disappointed with the exhibit. Great location with an interesting history. So much potential for a neat gallery. Instead there was no coherence to the exhibit no context, no apparent curation. We have been to some lovely free galleries in our visit to Australia with excellent exhibitions. This honestly felt like a bunch of cartoons that were just random, unfunny, not historically relevant or really enjoyable in any way. If you are looking for a real gallery experience on a ancient and rich subject, skip this place. Or make it free.

I really enjoyed visiting this amazing place, its fun, and it gives you something to do when your bored or your just sitting at home doing nothing.