In 2021, responding to the impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector, the Government through Manatū Taonga delivered $18 million Creative Spaces Initiative funding over three years. Its key aims were to secure employment, boost staff numbers and extend their reach into communities.

The funding has had a remarkable impact. We know this because Arts Access Aotearoa has been closely monitoring the outcomes of the three-year funding. The workforce has been able to upskill, diversify their programming, and develop deeper and more impactful relationships with their participants.

Students who had left formal education returned to classrooms after developing skills that enabled them to integrate into school environments. People who experienced strokes learned to vocalise once more after participating in therapeutic choirs. Isolated people, who had felt their place was at the edge of our social fabric, found themselves embedded in communities that welcomed them.

The creative spaces sector not only enriches the lives of their participants but also supports the network of public organisations seeking to enable better lives for all New Zealanders. 

There are around 90 creative spaces throughout New Zealand, from Southland through to Northland. These community arts organisations and groups provide space, resources, opportunities and learning for people who face barriers to making art, including theatre, dance, circus, visual arts, music, film and creative writing.

You can read a history of creative spaces. You can also check out the creative spaces directory on our website and learn about creative spaces in your region.

Here are just three comments among hundreds we’ve received in the past couple of years:

• "It’s an amazing privilege to be able to come here and have tutors and art supplies supplied for us. It’s given me a sense of purpose and a reason to get out of the house,” says an artist who works from Pablos Art Studios in Wellington. Read the story
• "Mental health is one of the pressing societal challenges today and it demands a variety of approaches for effective solutions. The creative spaces sector offers a comprehensive and transformational approach to mental health support. It complements traditional medical approaches and stands as a powerful solution on its own,” writes Susanne Ritzenhoff, Director of Toi Ora Live Art Trust, Auckland. Read Susanne’s blog
• "At its heart, Jolt is about social justice and advocating for the rights of disabled people to be seen and heard, in both the arts and the wider community. Our dancers deserve the right not only to participate but also to have pathways to leadership and excellence,” says Lyn Cotton, Artistic Director of Jolt, Christchurch. Read the story 

This is the final year of the Creative Spaces Initiative. Creative spaces and Arts Access Aotearoa  are very concerned. As many in the not-for-profit sector will know, constantly applying for funding and grants takes up a large portion of staff resource that could otherwise be spent on contact time with artists.  

It’s been proved the creative spaces sector has improved its delivery for communities during the period of the fund. It is now very important to keep up the momentum so that service and quality gains are not lost.

It is more important than ever to provide and maintain longer-term funding contracts with creative spaces. They give security, allowing them to respond to demonstrable need and invest in their artists and staff.

Arts Access Aotearoa is working with creative spaces to increase their capability to obtain grants and funding through a year-long focus that is building professional development in many areas, from fundraising to governance.

We are also working with the sector to strengthen their profile and demonstrate the huge impact of what they do for people in Aotearoa’s communities. It makes economic and social sense for central and local government, along with the philanthropic sector, to invest in this sector and provide long-term funding for creative spaces. 

I encourage you to follow the Creative Spaces Network’s new Facebook page where you will learn all about the many achievements of creative spaces and their artists.