We have funding available for art activities that celebrate the uniqueness of the Waikato district, but you’ll need to get in quick! Apply to our Creative Communities Scheme before the latest round of funding closes on 31 August.
Open to individuals and groups, the Creative Communities Scheme is aimed at supporting art activities that celebrate the uniqueness of the Waikato district, its cultural traditions and diversity, including Toi Māori. Its goal is to increase participation from the local community in the arts sector and encourage young people to participate in local arts.
Funding can be used to cover costs such as materials or equipment needed, venue hire, personnel, and marketing. It can apply across a wide variety of art forms to suit the needs of the applicant.
Over the years, a number of local community projects have benefited from the scheme, including Toi Ako Artspace, who used the funding to help facilitate a Matariki Carving Festival in 2022 and Pounamu Workshops in 2023.
Toi Ako Artspace manager Lauren Hughes says the funding has allowed them to go ahead with programmes that otherwise might be too costly.
Toi Ako offers a variety of creative opportunities to their community in Te Kauwhata and Meremere but offering guest workshops can be costly and require specialist equipment, materials and cultural expertise , she says.
“We have applied for the Creative Communities Scheme regularly since our artspace launched four years ago, it subsidised the programme for it to be financially accessible to our community.”
To be eligible for the Creative Communities Scheme, your project must:
take place within Waikato District
be completed within 12 months of funding being approved.
benefit local communities.
not have started or finished before CCS funding is approved.
not have already been funded through Creative New Zealand’s other arts funding programmes.
Applications for this round of the Creative Communities Scheme close at 5pm on Thursday 31 August. Please note that the application form has been updated relating to this fund. If you have old forms, please do not use these when making future applications to the fund.
More information including the schemes guidelines and application form can be found here.
Once you’ve submitted your application, an Assessment Committee made up of eight people will hear the various submissions on Thursday 5 October.
If you have questions, please email creative.communities@waidc.govt.nz
