A bold new vision for the Waikato!

Arts Waikato are about to start gathering feedback from the community about their proposed vision for the region which is that, ‘By 2020 the Waikato region will be the most vibrant, creative & expressive community in New Zealand’.    While this may seem to some to be a huge leap for the region, Chief Executive, Andy Gowland-Douglas does not see it this way.  “We can totally do this, because in many ways we are already there. We all just need to work together as a collective region to prove this to the rest of the NZ and the world.  Within our region we have many extremely creative communities who have some incredible arts spaces and things happening –as well as a high percentage of artists as residents.  Put all this together and this makes the Waikato an incredibly rich place for arts and culture”

As a part of the consultation around the vision Arts Waikato is asking whether the brand “Creative Waikato” should replace Arts Waikato and also be used as the regional brand for marketing our region as a creative place.    This brand was first introduced in 2003 when Arts Waikato lead some research and scoping alongside the 10 Local Authorities in the greater Waikato region, with the intention of creating an arts plan for the region.  Unfortunately this was reliant on Creative New Zealand funding which never eventuated, but the partnership did eventually lead to the development of a creative industries innovation centre which we now know as ‘Soda Inc.’    “This time the focus will be solely on agreeing on a shared vision – once this is in place then a regional action plan can come later if it is needed.  We have to take first steps first and not make it too hard for ourselves” Says Andy.

Arts Waikato are a regional organisation who were established in 2001 by Trust Waikato to address the capacity building needs of the arts and cultural sector.   They provide advice, support, facilitation and tools to schools, councils, arts organisations, events and projects so that they can be as effective as possible at what they do for the benefit of the region.  They also provide scholarships, host an annual regional arts awards event, and have a role in facilitating collaboration and promoting the region through the arts and the arts throughout the region.   This September Arts Waikato will celebrate their 10^th Birthday.  They work throughout the greater Waikato region which extends from Thames –Coromandel to as far south as Ruapehu District and includes a total of 10 local authority areas.

A series of short workshops will be held throughout the region during June, and prior to this you can also have your say online. Anyone with an interest in the arts or our region is welcome to attend. To participate in a short online survey visit:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/artswaikato  Details on all  the workshops can be found here. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/artswaikato

Posted: Thu 12 May 2011

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