Creative Spaces NetworkYou wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen and heard in my job as the director of Kākano, essentially an art school in West Auckland for rangatahi who don't fit anywhere else. Things that would break your heart.
But there are also some beautiful parts as well. Sarah, our youth support coordinator, is responsible for the pastoral care of our young people. The importance of her role cannot be overlooked. Our young people face some serious obstacles, and their issues are varied and extremely complex.
Let me tell you about *Rio (not his real name). Rio was referred to us when he was 14 and his referral, honestly reading between the lines, it pretty much said, "yeah, good luck."
And to be honest, he was quite hard work. He tagged everything. He tagged the toilet seats, the inside of the fridge, the inside of the van, the power points. In fact, we're still finding his tags all over the studio.
However, once he found his place and he settled in, he absolutely thrived.
Five years later, when he reached 20, it was time for Rio to move on and so we found him a space in the art department of a movie. The problem was no one in his household had had a job during his lifetime and so getting up early to go to work was not something he was familiar with.
A packed lunch and a hot chocolate
So Sarah was on his doorstep every morning at 7:30 for the first week with a packed lunch and a hot chocolate. She rang his mum the night before so that she knew she had to help get him up in the morning.
The second week Sarah found someone he was working with who lived nearby so that person would come and pick him up each morning.
Sarah still called every single night to make sure his mum was getting him up out of bed in the morning.
The third week, she backed off a little but still checked in every day, and she also formed a relationship with his manager at work so she could make sure everything was okay at that end.
Two months later, Rio had his forklift and his scissor lift licences and was in a really good space.
Two of his brothers were noticing he had some flash new gear because he suddenly had money and they were like, "Hmmm, this working thing seems kind of cool." So they moved into employment as well.
Funding enabled intergenerational change
Kākano was one of 54 creative spaces to receive multi-year funding from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. This funding enabled us to wrap ourselves around Rio and it impacted an entire household, enabling intergenerational change. And that's only Rio’s story. I have so many more.
Kākano began in 2013 as a pilot programme when I was the education manager at Corban Estate Arts Centre in West Auckland.
I kept getting phone calls from police, social workers and lawyers saying, "I've got this young person. They're in the youth justice system and they're really interested in art. Do you have any programmes?" And the short answer was that we didn't.
I hated saying no all the time and eventually, I thought, “This isn't good enough. We need to do something about it.” So with a tiny amount of funding from Oranga Tamariki, I created a nine-week pilot programme with five young people who had come through the youth justice system.
I recognised very quickly there was something special here. It wasn't easy but there was something really precious that needed to be continued. And at the end of that nine weeks, all of the young people asked when they could back.
So I quit my job. I got pretty good at funding and Kākano grew. Now, eleven years later, we have around 18 rangatahi aged between 12 and 22 – none of them in mainstream education.
In fact, some of them haven’t been in mainstream education since they were 10. Many of them have a history in the youth justice system, offending at quite a high level.
We have four amazing tutors. We have a 12-seater van, a transport coordinator and a youth support coordinator.
At our studio at Corban Estate Arts Centre, our young people are each on their own creative journeys under the guidance of our tutors, who are all multidisciplinary artists.
Creating positive pathways to further study or employment
They're working not only on their art practice but also on their self-confidence and their self-worth. We work with them to create positive pathways to further study or employment in the creative industries.
It's vital that all of the creative spaces around the country can continue their mahi. These are places where the most vulnerable and marginalised have a sense of belonging, a voice and a chance to create a better future for themselves and their whānau.
The Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage funding has come to an end but our work continues. I invite you to support this incredible network of creative spaces here in Aotearoa, doing the most powerful mahi, often on shoestring budgets.
We all need to continue to create an inclusive and more equitable Aotearoa for our future generations. To take that seed, that kākano, to nurture it and help it grow. To pour love and knowledge and inspiration on it and turn it into something truly beautiful.
Kākano Youth Arts Collective is a member of the Creative Spaces Network, facilitated by Arts Access Aotearoa. You can download Kākano's impact story from the Investing in Auckland webpage.
