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Community Arts Strategy

Taranaki Arts Community Trust - Advancing community art to advance community life.

• Abstract
• Background
• Taranaki Arts Community Trust
• Purpose of the Community Arts Strategy
• Identified needs and projects
• Vision of the Community Arts Strategy
• Goals of the Community Arts Strategy
• Implementation and review process
• Trustee profiles

Abstract

This Strategy document outlines the vision and goals of the Taranaki Arts Community Trust (TACT). The vision and goals have been developed in response to the priorities identified by the Community Arts Forum which met and undertook consultation between September 2002 and June 2003. The Community Arts Forum was a representative body of the key arts organisations and relevant agencies within the region and was instrumental in the establishment of the Trust. This strategy is therefore a response to the real needs of community art and community artists within Taranaki.

TACT aims to act as the main organisation to develop and enhance local community art within Taranaki. In so doing it aims to develop partnerships with other key arts organisations, education providers and relevant agencies. Its main areas of focus are outlined in this document in order to ensure that the community is clear as to the role and direction of the Trust.

TACT is a response to the needs of the local artistic community and it will remain guided by the priorities and views of this community.

Background

In September 2002 the Council’s Community Development Team established the Community Arts Forum. This Forum was established as a reference group that would meet monthly and would be able to collate the views of the key individuals and organisations involved in the local (i.e. District and Regional) arts scene.

The Forum was designed to analyse these views and establish the key needs that should be prioritised.

The members of the Forum were:

• New Plymouth District Council.
• Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.
• Venture Taranaki.
• Virtual TART.
• North Taranaki Community Arts Trust.
• Te Kikini Trust.
• Percy Thomson Art Gallery.
• Taranaki Art Society.
• Stone Carvers Symposium.
• Western Institute for Technology at Taranaki.
• Likeminds Taranaki.
• Music Design Publishing.

The Forum concluded that the main priority (and the most effective way to advance local art) was the creation of a Community Art Centre inclusive of a Community Art Gallery. This Community Art Centre would become the hub out of which other innovative projects could be developed to continue to advance local art and artists.

In order to achieve this it was agreed that a representative Trust inclusive of Trustees committed to the arts and qualified in various key skill areas should be formed. The Trust would work to create the Community Art Centre and would act as the vehicle to develop and establish new initiatives to advance local art and artists.

The Taranaki Arts Community Trust (TACT) was established in August 2003 to move this agenda forward.
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Taranaki Arts Community Trust

The Taranaki Arts Community Trust consists of six dedicated Trustees whose backgrounds ensure that the Trust has access to the skills and knowledge necessary to develop and enhance the community arts of the region in a professional and effective manner. The Trustees are:

• Linda Wilkinson (Chair): Solicitor
• Robin Brockie (Accountant): Accountant
• Graeme Beals: Company Director
• Gill Winter: Musical Agent
• Dale Copeland: Artist
• Hayden Wano: Chief Executive Officer

The Trust also has a staff member provided by New Plymouth District Council.

The Trust aims to achieve the following key objectives: 

• Ensure that local artists from across the community have access to an affordable venue within which to display and promote their work.
• Ensure that New Plymouth District is able to showcase the artistic talent within its midst within a professional, accessible, friendly and community oriented arena.
• Ensure that visitors to the District are able to easily access the broadest range of local artistic talent.
• Enable local artists to promote their work regionally and nationally.
• Enable the District to attract exhibitions from other community based galleries across the country and from overseas.
• Develop an incubator for local emerging artists that will enhance their talents as well as their ability to market and sell their work.
• Provide a much needed addition to community education with a purposely designed community education centre that will deliver high quality art classes for everyone within the District.
• Create a Community Arts Centre that can champion new ideas to further develop the local art scene.
• Ensure that local artists are supported as far as possible to make a living from their work, thus ensuring that the local art scene is viable, vibrant and expanding.
• Put New Plymouth District (and the wider Taranaki region) firmly on the map as a leading artistic area within New Zealand.

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Purpose of the Community Arts Strategy

This policy has four key purposes:

1. To document and summarise the identified concerns and needs of the artistic community within the New Plymouth District and wider region.

2. To outline the goals that have been identified as the key priorities to respond to these concerns and needs and to therefore develop and enhance local art and artists.

3. To summarise in the form of an Annual Action Plan the initiatives that have been developed in order to begin moving towards these goals.

4. To provide a framework that: 

• Enables all members of the community to understand how the development and enhancement of local art and artists will be achieved.
• Enables new partnerships to be developed to contribute to achieving the development and enhancement of local art and artists.
• Ensures that the development and enhancement of local art and artists is a living process that changes and updates in order to meet future needs.

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Identified needs and projects

1. The work of the Community Arts Forum identified a range of needs that the Taranaki Arts Community Trust will work to meet through the goals of the Community Arts Strategy. The main issues to be identified can be outlined as:

• Open and accessible display opportunities for local artists.
• Often high cost of displaying art work.
• High commission levels associated with most venues.
• Restrictive criteria of display venues.
• Limited hours of operation with some venues.
• Location of some venues not conducive to easy visitor access

2. Organised promotion of local Taranaki artwork.

• Taranaki is not consistently marketed as a major community art venue.
• Visitors to Taranaki do not expect to be able to access a wide and exciting range of locally produced art work.
• Visitors are not widely encouraged to view or buy local art work.

3. Access for the community to art education and art resources. 

• Existing community art classes are at capacity.
• Venues tend to be outside of the town centre.
• There is no existing community focused resource centre.

4. Support for emerging local artists.

• Taranaki does not have a comprehensive established incubator designed to assist emerging artists to develop their work and profile.
• Many artists find it difficult to achieve major profile for their work.
• Artists often find it hard to make a living from their work.

5. Major community art centre within CBD.

• Linked to the above issues – New Plymouth lacks a high profile and centrally located focus for the art produced in the area.
• Such a venue would complete the already widely acclaimed circuit involving Puke Ariki, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, the foreshore and Wind Wand and various smaller art galleries.

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Vision of the Community Arts Strategy

The vision of the Community Arts Strategy has three core components:

1. Local artists will be active and supported participants in the development and enhancement of the local artistic scene.
2. Community art will form a central part of the local artistic scene and will be easily accessible by all who live in and visit the area.
3. The local artistic scene will become recognised across the country as vibrant,innovative, inclusive and exciting.

Goals of the Community Arts Strategy

Goal 1
Local artists will be empowered to become active participants in developing innovative solutions to needs they have identified.

The Trust will:
1.1 Operate as the key champion of the local artistic community.
1.2 Develop and sustain innovative partnerships with relevant agencies and organisations to promote local art and artists.
1.3 Fully involve local artists in the development of projects through existing networks.

Goal 2
Taranaki will become recognised as one of the leading artistic areas in the country and local art will be a central part of this status.

The Trust will:
2.1 Operate a Community Art Gallery which enables the broadest range of local art to be showcased.
2.2 Develop and operate a Community Art Centre which enables access to art based education classes, workshop resources and an incubation facility for existing and emerging local artists.
2.3 Advocate on behalf of local art and local artists and act as a vehicle to develop new ideas that can further develop the local arts scene.
2.4 Promote the Community Art Centre and Gallery as a key venue for major exhibitions.
2.5 Support local artists to promote their work regionally and nationally.
2.6 Enhance the ability of visitors to access the broadest range of local art.

Goal 3
The Taranaki Arts Community Trust will make tangible and measurable improvements to the quality of life of local artists.

The Trust will:
3.1 Produce an annual Community Arts Action Plan that outlines the targets for that year.
3.2 Produce an annual Community Arts Report outlining progress and achievements over the past year.
3.3 Regularly review the Community Arts Strategy to ensure that it continues to reflect the needs and priorities of the local community.

Goal 4
The Taranaki Arts Community Trust will build a capital base in order to support the development of local Taranaki Art.

The Trust will:
4.1 Work with local, regional and national funding providers to resource short-term and long-term funding.
4.2 Promote local art and the work of the Trust in order to gain capital contributions from private businesses and organisations.
4.3 Operate profit making projects and reinvest this profit into the development of local art.
4.4 Undertake other fundraising activities as necessary to be able to meet the goals outlined above.
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Implementation and review process

The strategy will operate for five years beginning 1 January 2004 and ending 31 December 2007. The five-year period has been chosen because it provides sufficient time for initiatives to make an impact, but is short enough to ensure that the policy will not become outdated.

At the beginning of each year a Community Arts Action Plan will be produced outlining the specific initiatives that will be the priorities for that year. Each Action Plan will include initiatives designed to move a step closer to achieving the overall goals of the Community Arts Strategy.

The Action Plans will be followed at the end of the year by a Taranaki Arts Community Trust Annual Report summarising the actions and achievements of that year.

The Community Arts Strategy will be reviewed during its last year of operation (2007). This review will be intended to lead to the creation of an updated Community Arts Strategy that can be adopted for a further five-year period.

The Board of Trustees of the Taranaki Arts Community Trust will be responsible for ensuring that the goals of the Strategy are met and for delivering on the reporting commitments outlined above.

Trustee profiles

Linda Wilkinson (Chair) - Solicitor
Graeme Beals - Company Director, Deputy Chair Chamber of Commerce
Robin Brockie - Accountant
Dale Copeland - Artist
Hayden Wano - Chief Executive Tui Ora, Chair Taranaki District Health Board
Gill Winter - Musical Agent
Claire Tate - Artist
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