22 February 2017

Council’s arts and culture funding branches bear fruit

Every year Wellington City Council funds a wide range of arts, culture and community projects, and as the new funding rounds closing dates approach many of the past recipients are happening around town now.

Last year, Council funded over 100 arts, culture and creative community projects, all of which add to the creative fabric of the capital – and are aligned with the Council’s resilience strategy says Mayor, and Arts and Culture portfolio leader, Justin Lester.

“The Arts and Culture Fund and Creative Communities Scheme (a partnership with Creative New Zealand) are designed to support projects that make a positive contribution to the city.

“A high proportion of Wellingtonians aren’t born here – they choose to live here for the arts and cultural scene. From a resilience point of view, these ties to the city are important, so this is a priority to support and maintain now – for the future,” says Mayor Lester.

Several applicants that received 2016 funding are on this year’s summer calendar, including:

• Summer Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well is currently on in Civic Square

• VividWgtn introduces English 3D artist Cityzenkane and his collaboration with local ceramic artist, Stevei Houkamau at Wellington Museum on Monday 27 February – along with other street art events in early March

• The annual Performance Arcade kicks-off Friday 10 March with eight days of events, arts, and performances on Wellington’s waterfront

• Upstream Art Trail is running from 2-5 March in Brooklyn Central Park with installations from artists and a joint work by the children of 5 local schools

• Photival is part of the Fringe Festival – an exhibition of images connected through a theme of positive social change in various locations around the city.

Team Leader Funding Mark Farrar says grants funding is one of the ways the Council delivers on its Arts and Culture strategy.

“The Arts and Culture strategy is about encouraging communities to express themselves, supporting local talent and getting people engaged in a wide variety of creative pursuits,” says Farrar.

“We have a lot of applications for our grants, but we encourage others who may not have applied before to give it a go – so they can be a fixture on the capital’s cultural calendar too.”

The Creative Communities Scheme current round of applications closes on Tuesday 28 February, and the Arts and Culture Fund closes on Friday 31 March. Find out all about our grants on the funding section of our website.

ENDS

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