GB Arts Council ready to expand

Golden Bay Arts Council has been awarded a substantial grant of over $54,000 from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Amongst other things, the application proposed funding a new arts worker to help ease the workload and to take on specific tasks and projects.

A key part of the new role involves creating a community strengthening programme, organising artist meet-ups, and developing a community arts programme for artists – with workshops and other initiatives. Venues would be dependent on the needs, services, and facilities required for each workshop; community consultation will be part of that process. Current arts worker Claire French says that help has already been offered with digital marketing, which may even result in an arts column for The GB Weekly. Other tasks would include building and maintaining an up-to-date directory of funding and professional opportunities for Golden Bay artists, and a directory of artists and galleries.

Another significant task for the new arts worker is directing a summer Mohua Arts Festival, with pop-up galleries in different venues and community halls across Golden Bay, to accommodate a gallery tour. Each venue would have a specific exhibition theme, eg Bay Art winners, or Ngā Toi (Māori art). The tour would also include private galleries, providing multiple opportunities for artists to display and sell their work, while offering a full programme of gallery roving for summer visitors. The Arts Council would take a commission on sales to make it sustainable for future events.

Claire is excited to have another person on the team, not only to action the new initiatives, but also to lighten her load

Rob Lewis, N.D.L 03 525 6183 607 Takaka-Collingwood Highway Puramahoi roblewis@snap.net.nz

Welcoming orders now and enable both arts workers to provide reciprocal support to each other during busy production times. “For one person alone, even for me, the job is not sustainable,” she says.

Meantime, while the new position is being advertised nationwide, the Arts Council encourages locals to apply. “It’s quite a skilled job, so it needs to be quite a specific person,” says Claire. “They will have to do their own funding applications if they want to carry on in that role; that will be part of their responsibility.”

The contract is advertised in this issue (page 14), or check out The Big Idea or Seek “Arts Worker” for more information.