New Creative Capital Arts Trust Ready to Roll

19 August 2011

New Creative Capital Arts Trust Ready to Roll

The Creative Capital Arts Trust (CCAT) is ready to roll out Wellington’s Fringe Festival for 2012 and is replacing the Fringe Arts Trust and the Cuba St Carnival Collective Trust.

The new trust is an umbrella organisation which aims to provide a reliable resource for the emerging arts sector in Wellington.

The CCAT will initially focus on sustaining and building the Fringe Festival and Cuba St Carnival, providing a solid structure on which these two events can flourish, while at the same time building capability to produce other arts and creative events as the organisation grows.

The Trust has received start up funding from Creative New Zealand and now Wellington City Council has agreed to transfer the support it had previously committed to the Fringe Festival; that is $85,000 annually for the 2012-2013 events. This money will go towards putting on Fringe Festivals.

CCAT Chair Tim Brown welcomed the unanimous endorsement by Council’s Grants committee earlier this week.

“Voluntary organisations rely heavily on peoples’ enthusiasm and willingness to give their time, but it is the support of Council and Creative NZ which then gives us the resources necessary to actually make things happen,” said Mr Brown.

“The other key ingredient in our case is Emma Flack. We are incredibly fortunate to have someone of her calibre overseeing the CCAT’s establishment, arrangement of the 2012 Fringe and development of the next Carnival for Cuba Street.”

Martyn Wood of Bats Theatre said, “I know a lot of people have been working behind the scenes for a long time to get the CCAT up and running, and it’s fantastic that CNZ and the Wellington City Council are supporting them so strongly in bringing the Fringe Festival to Wellington. BATS is stoked to once again be a part of this iconic festival, and to the continued support events like Fringe give to emerging talent in our city.”

The first task of the new trust is to deliver the 22nd Fringe Festival which will be held from 10 February to 3 March 2012 and will return to a three week programme. The 2012 Fringe will also see the return of the popular Fringe Awards.

The Fringe provides opportunities for emerging artists and supports them with production workshops, mentoring and promotion through an umbrella festival programme and media. Fringe 2011 staged 51 productions by 600 performers to an audience of 14,000.

The Cuba Street Carnival is a much loved part of Wellington’s creative culture. It’s a celebration of Wellington’s diversity and creative communities.

Emma Flack said, “Wellington has said loud and clear that the Cuba Street Carnival is important to the city. With the support of Wellington City Council, I am looking forward to working with the community on both Fringe and the Carnival, two events that help make Wellington the best little capital in the world and define the city as a centre for creativity in New Zealand”.

ENDS

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