Bringing Creativity Into View

This Christmas, five emerging Māori artists will see their designs flying high on flags across Tauranga’s city centre — one of several projects bringing local creativity into public view.

A proposed large-scale mural opposite the new Tauranga Library has attracted 17 submissions, including three from Australia and two from the United States. While inside the new library, artist Lynette Fisher has secured a commission for a major artwork.

Creative Bay of Plenty has helped connect artists with all three opportunities, from identifying emerging Māori artists for Downtown Tauranga’s Christmas flags initiative to promoting the mural and library commissions and inviting artists to put forward their ideas.

Over the past two years, the organisationhas supported 64 public art and exhibition opportunities, helping artists reach new audiences and bringing creativity into shared spaces.

Creative Bay of Plenty’s Strategy & Capability Lead Annie Hill says the value of creativity extends into almost every part of daily life.

“If you took all the art away, we’d have nothing. Creativity is everywhere and in everything.”

Public art makes that contribution particularly visible. One example is Jasmine Kroeze’s bright, abstract mural beside Tauranga City Council’s new building, which has transformed the outlook for people walking along Devonport Road. Creative Bay of Plenty worked with the council and building developers to help select the artist and concept.

“If you’re in Florence Bistro and you lookout that window, it’s just the most amazing site for an artwork. Previously, it was the ugliest wall,” Annie says. “It’s a really bright, beautiful, abstractart work that has enhanced the view from inside the building.

“Not all people are comfortable going into an art gallery. Public art actually gives people a chance to engage with art in their own space, in the environment they’re in.”

Making Connections

Founded in 1969 as the Tauranga Arts Council, Creative Bay of Plenty | Te Waka Auaha Toi supports artists and arts organisations across Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty. Its three-person team focuses on connecting people, building skills and confidence, advocating for the arts and promoting creative work.

That support includes free one-on-one mentoring, subsidised workshops and networking events, funding advice and a weekly newsletter sharing creative opportunities.

“Some times people don’t even know what they need. But if their first stop is with us, we can talk that through with them,”Annie says. “Often, artists work alone and can be quite isolated. They might have 100 ideas, and we can just help them flesh out what their priorities are and make a plan for working towards whatthey want to achieve.”

Those connections can lead to something bigger. The Bay of Plenty Open Studios trail began with a conversation between visual artists at one of the organisation’s networking lunches.

“They sparked an idea. They delivered the whole thing, but we provided that opportunity for them to actually have that conversation.”

Backing Local Creativity

The funding Creative Bay of Plenty receives from Tauranga City Council is now only half of what it was in 2021/22. The sharp reduction prompted a restructure, and a rethink of how the organisation could best support the creative community.

“There’s no fat in our budget. For us, it’s really about working smarter,” Annie says. Careful financial management has kept the organisation in a sound position this year, but the reduced funding continues to limit what it can do.

BayTrust has provided financial support in previous years and has now approved a new $20,000 grant towards operational costs, helping Creative Bay of Plenty maintain its services and consider further opportunities.

“We have good support from TECT (now Manawa Trust) and BayTrust. These organisations see what we do and value it, and that’s a huge thing for our whole sector — that people value art.”

The artists and organisations it support span everything from performing and visual arts to photography, writing and object art. Annie says people engage with creativity daily through books,films, music and architecture, often without recognising it as art.

“When people go to a live play, they leave having had a completely immersive experience. So, when people have the opportunity in their city to engage in the arts, it’s really meaningful.”

Those opportunities also extend overseas.Creative Bay of Plenty recently helped send three quilt artworks by local artists and 15 cultural images by five local photographers to an exhibition in Hitachi, Japan (Tauranga’s sister city). The team is exploring further international exhibition opportunities, with future priorities to be considered at a December strategic planning session.

“We’re just really grateful for this BayTrust grant and the ability it will give us to support the arts sector, artists and arts organisations.”

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