Creative year. Creative Summer.

“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life” – Elizabeth Gilbert

As we come to the end of another year of creative mahi at Creative Waikato, working alongside our rich and wondrous creative communities, this is a time for reflection, celebration, and future visioning. We have continued to deliver our work towards a Waikato Region that thrives with diverse and transformative creative activity. We also have marvelled in the awesome and engaging creativity to be found in the work of artists, organisations and the community of Waikato.

Moving into the summer and a time of rest, refreshment and connection with whānau and friends it seems like an awesome space to enable opportunities for creative play. There is so much to see and do. Summer festivals, art exhibitions, concerts, and we encourage you to engage with those opportunities in your holiday journeys. But, there is also so much creativity to engage with at home with your family and friends. Our Creativity Every Day may be a great place to start! We have even created a little creativity bingo that you can work through over the summer break.

For the Creative Waikato team, we are certainly looking forward to a time of rest and relaxation, but it is also awesome to reflect on the range of mahi that has taken place this year… There is so much to celebrate and to be grateful for. Here are some snapshots and links of the range of activities:

Elevate | Hāpai – We help you to succeed through advice, training and support

• Our ELEVATE Creative Careers Programme – working with local creatives to help grow and develop their creative careers
• Re-development of our ArtReach capability programme to launch with our community in early 2024
• Toi Maaori ki Kirikiriroa – waananga, koorero and community day celebrating ngaa mahi Toi in Kirikiriroa
• Creative Development and working with our creative communities
• Support for Funding and connecting more artists with support for their community activities

Connect | Tūhono – We connect you with the right people and places for stronger creative outcomes

• Understanding the wellbeing needs of our communities
• Working with regional partners like the Lots of Little Fires
• Working with K’aute Pasifika on the Pasifika Arts Fono
• Delivering our Whiria Te Tāngata multi-community artists in residence programme
• Sharing our Kotahitanga through Creativity kaupapa in a book with the libraries of the region
• The launch of our Creative Education resources and their activation with our communities
• Connecting and collaborating with our sister organisations Community Waikato and Sport Waikato

Amplify | Whakarahi – We share stories far and wide and drive engagement with creative activity

• Sharing stories and activity on our website and ThingsToDo
• Launching our Audience Development Toolkit
• Developing and launching our innovative Creativity Every Day workplace wellbeing resource
• Sharing stories around advocacy, positive change and new ways of understanding our ecosystem

Advocate | Taunaki – We stand up for arts, culture and creativity as they are essential to wellbeing

• Continuing to champion and refine our Waikato Arts Navigator – regional strategic framework
• Developing and launching the new Waikato Performing Arts Strategy
• Understanding and celebrating the value and impact of arts, culture and creativity
• Working with local and central government
• Working with regional organisations and funders
• Working with other regional arts networks in Aotearoa
• Advocating and working with Creative New Zealand and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage
• Contributing to the impacts and insights of our ecosystem

There are so many amazing things to explore and it is awesome to be able to support and celebrate the wealth of creativity that exists in Waikato. Creative Waikato are pleased to work with our community to continue to grow, enhance and positively impact the wellbeing, creativity and people of this beautiful region.

We are signing off for the year – but we are back in 2024 for more creativity, more community and more connection.

Albert Einstein said, “creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.” So, here is to seeing the opportunities that might emerge before us in the new year, and collectively making moves to positively impact the world around with a sense of hope, kindness, care and creativity.