Finding Waikato Artists

How many local creatives do you know?

The Waikato thrives with a diverse array of creative activity. We see it in the broad range of artists, organisations and creative activities that take place in and around the Waikato region each week. It is an inspiring and exciting place to be.

There is a growing number of creative professionals who are building thriving creative careers here in Waikato, in fields stretching across painting and photography, to design, music, theatre, sculpture, sound, light, circus and more. There are people who make things, to share experiences, to teach and inspire future generations of creatives, and there are creative people who take their unique skills into other sectors and industries to help to tell stories and invent new things. 

Creativity exists in our tech sector, our education sector, our health sector and more. But it also exists so vibrantly in our arts ecosystem. For anyone who may not realise it – there is an amazing wealth of artistic skill and creative expression who are based here, and for Creative Waikato we consider ourselves lucky to get to interact with so many of these people in our daily lives.

Part of our organisational activity is in sharing the stories of local creativity and encouraging our communities to connect with local artists. We do that through platforms like thingstodo.events – a community guide to creative events in the Waikato region, and through our news and stories with profiles like this and this. 

We work to connect artists to other opportunities to showcase their work in other media and news sites, to profile the work of local artists through initiatives like Kotahitanga, Creative Acts of Kindness, Creativity Every Day, and Whiria Te Tāngata, and to work with local artists as part of our other community activations. 

Waikato-based artists are engaged in gallery exhibitions, theatre shows, national and international tours, writers festivals, arts festivals, gigs and more.

They are creating work in online spaces, sharing stories and music through streaming platforms, and winning awards. They are making meaningful contributions to their communities through volunteering and providing positive experiences for emerging creatives in local communities. 

Creativity can be found everywhere in the Waikato – in public art like the various murals in a wide range of local communities, to the pou, carvings and sculpture that exist along roadways, in sites of local significance, and in telling local stories. It is part of how we engage in placemaking and shaping the nature of the places we live. It is also throughout the various regional festivals, arts trails, and creative hubs in local communities. 

There are a range of different groups that have been part of championing the work of local artists, and one group is The Friends of the Waikato Museum – a group of art enthusiasts whose organisation has been in existence for 50 years this year. As part of their 50th Anniversary they commissioned a book called “101 Contemporary Waikato Artists” which provides a snapshot of a broad range of Waikato-based artists and is available at the Waikato Museum. This might be one way to further explore the range of artistic expression that emerges from this region. 

There is so much to explore and we encourage you to find a new local arts experience to engage in over the next month. Go and see a show, or visit a gallery, or read the work of a local poet. There is so much to explore. 

If you are an artist, we love to see all the different creative expressions that happen in our region – so if you want to share what you are doing the best way to do that is to tag us @creativewaikato on social media. Help us to understand more of the awesome creative activity taking place in our region. And keep an eye out for more local artist stories coming soon.