Going from strength to strength
All across Waikato, there are creative groups connecting communities: providing creative experiences, sharing skills, boosting wellbeing, and much more.
These groups thrive in seasons of challenge and opportunity thanks to people power- the generosity of leaders and members, and countless hours of volunteer or ‘above and beyond’ mahi. A lot of knowledge is held collectively or informally, learnt on-the-job, through experience and sharing it with others. And while each group is distinct, there are a number of areas where many creative community groups seek information.
Enter, ArtReach. Developed over the past ten years, in conversation with our creative ecosystem, ArtReach is a suite of workshops designed to help community groups with those things that come up: from governance and strategic planning, to project planning, funding, promotion and storytelling and more. Here are two stories of ArtReach in action, and some information about how to connect with ArtReach.
Tara Jeory has been the Chair of Hamilton Civic Choir for the past three years. She sees the choir as more than a place for people to sing together ‘It is about creating an environment for lifelong singers and building the choral community in the Waikato’. Tara believes that singing in a choir ‘Helps with mental health, managing stress and working together – because you can’t be in a choir on your own’.
Under the artistic leadership of Elise Bradley, the organisation produces several concerts each year in the Wider Waikato region as well as other centres within New Zealand and even overseas. The choir provides many offerings for its members as well as opportunities for the wider community.
These include musicianship courses, vocal tuition for members, opportunities to compete, for instance, at the World Choir Games, and an Artist Development Programme – which includes a scholarship programme for male singers aged 18 to 30. The choir also collaborates with other organisations, such as ArtsPost, who house the choir’s library.
Every member of the choir’s committee has a role based on their own individual strengths and abilities. The choir has a strategic plan, their ‘North Star’ which provides direction for the organisation. The group also thinks outside the box when it comes to fundraising, i.e. donating items to ‘ReCircle’, a second-hand store, where people can sell unwanted items to earn funds. The committee has shown a real commitment to explore and test avenues.
The choir’s approach to audience development is to ‘think about the experience you’re giving your audience’. But this is not only through the performance itself. The choir also takes the opportunity to connect with the audience after performances, providing a cup of tea and food, which she says helps to break down barriers and having one-on-one conversations.
Tara sees the value of a programme such as ArtReach, in that it is ‘a good launching pad and something to return to, to help give that direction’
Another group offering opportunities for connection, collaboration and learning is the Waikato Writers branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA)
Imé Corkery, co-president of the Waikato branch has found ArtReach is a good fit for her and her committee of volunteers. The group have been in the process of aligning with the NZSA, and developing their storytelling, audience development and plans for the future.
Imé took the plunge and signed up to ArtReach following chats with the Creative Waikato team, who showed her some key modules that related to the work of the group.
Waikato Writers has been connecting local writers and lovers of literature since its beginning in 2011. The group provides regular newsletters, connects writers with key resources and opportunities for writers, provides monthly in-person workshops and gatherings for local writers.
In 2023, the group introduced the Pegasus Award, an annual award recognising contributions to the Waikato writing community, and in 2025, this prize was joined by the introduction of a similar award for younger writers: Te Whakamanahau Rangatahai.
In 2025, the group started to explore the opportunity to update their website, and saw an opportunity to revisit how they tell the story of the group. Cue: the Artreach workshop ‘Promotion and Storytelling’ more specifically, the chapter ‘Work out your key messages’.
‘And it helped us to just start that conversation: What is it that we do, and what is it that makes us different? And that really did help, we were able to narrow it down. It helped us to answer-okay, what is it that we are trying to provide? That’s where we came up with the idea of: writing workshops for writers, by writers.’
This clarity has helped the group with their comms work, and guided them in making their first funding application through the Creative Communities Scheme, highlighting the way that their meetings not only help to develop the writers who attend, but provide opportunities for the community to gain experience in publicly presenting and facilitating workshops.
Corkery highlights that ArtReach is a good fit for her and her team:
‘I think the fact that you can do it at your own pace makes it so accessible, for people who can’t sit through a whole workshop in one go. And then it made it easier to pull one or two things to discuss with the rest of the group-to say this is the one topic we can focus on for now. I could look at it online and then bring the downloadable notes to the rest of the committee to have that conversation. And it makes it less scary. It makes it easier, especially when people are volunteering their time and might not want to sit through a whole day. It makes it easier to choose one thing and tick that off.’
ArtReach is something that she is glad to have access to, and knows that she can return to it at any time, to engage with at the pace that suits the group best.
‘There were certain things that I had urgent questions about that I could go in and do right now, and then the ones that I may need a little bit more time on, I can think about.’