This week Creative Waikato held a meet-up in our town to gauge the level of interest from local visual artists, wanting more connection with the wider Waikato arts picture. Not sure how widely the message was broadcast but only a few people turned up. This small number could hardly qualify as representative of the breadth of visual artists working in the Hauraki district.
It appears the Hauraki District Council has passed over the job of updating it’s Arts, Culture and Heritage policy, to those who work for Creative Waikato, which in turn is funded by Trust Waikato. Interesting. If the new policy is taken on board, who will help continue and maintain it. What will be the outcomes for our district? Will there be anyone on the Council or local boards, who “gets” what the arts are all about. There’s talk of covering “the well-beings” and tourism, and youth involvement. Is that a directive from central government on how to spend the funding ?
It has long been agreed, that what is needed here is a central hub for the town, where artists can meet, set up working studios, engage with the public, run workshops, sell their art, and generally be part of the scene around the arts and so provide for the well-being of locals, offer interactive events for tourists, and encourage young people to get involved.
More dialogue is needed: contact Craig McClure at www.creativewaikato.co.nz