New City Arts Centre Hits the Ground Running

from Wellington City Council press release

The new Wellington Arts Centre, in Abel Smith Street, is opening in a buzz of creativity as Wellington Community Arts starts the move from its headquarters in the Oriental Bay Rotunda to the centre.

Even as contractors continue work on the centre, Sticky Pictures, a local television and film production company has already moved into an administrative space, and the first twelve studio artists have been selected and will move in at the end of April.

Work began early this year on premises at 61-69 Abel Smith Street – in two former Board of Education buildings – and contractors are finishing the first stages of an interior refit. The centre is expected to be fully refurbished and operational by July.

"New creative projects and ideas are already buzzing about the place, energising the buildings well ahead of their official July opening," says Cr Ray Ahipene-Mercer, the Council's Culture and Arts Portfolio spokesperson. "It will be a bold, bustling and powerful place," he says.

The centre's seven floors of space will be devoted to creative production, cultural contribution, and arts practice. Another early tenant, Barbarian Productions, has begun developing new theatre and stage-based productions at the site.

Wellington City Council has spent the past two years talking to the creative community, building the policy and budget support, studying the local trends of cultural production, and trying to put the right pieces together for a diverse new arts space.

"The vision has changed and grown during that time," says Cr Ahipene-Mercer. "But in a way we've always kept the focus on the creative people who will be working and collaborating on site."

Michael Hawkins, a painter, installation artist, and art teacher at Wellington College, is among the first artists to rent one of 28 studio spaces.

"The new arts centre will strengthen the cultural ties of Wellington's visual artists, as well as those working within other creative disciplines. I see the centre as a fantastic opportunity to take part in and consolidate a creative and cultural scene willing to stand up and put Wellington on the map," says Mr Hawkins.

The centre will also provide meeting and workshop rooms designed for community art courses, seminars, and other group functions. Existing term courses and arts activities, now offered at the Oriental Bay Rotunda, will be transferred to the new centre in late April.

The new facility will also provide a home to small and large arts organisations, event managers, and arts-based producers. Administrative space ranges from one-room offices to larger office clusters and open-plan suites. A collective of theatre, dance, and film producers will make its home there later in the year.

The arts centre lobby opens on to a dedicated exhibition space. This gallery will focus on artists working within the centre as well as local emerging artists.

For more information about centre resources, arts programmes and services in Wellington, contact Council Community Arts Co-ordinator Eric Holowacz on (04) 385 1929 or arts@wcc.govt.nz

Seven Floors of Space - Wellington's New Arts Centre

from The Big Idea website
7 April 2005


The first phase of Wellington’s new arts centre will be opening soon at 61-69 Abel Smith Street, with programming, studio spaces, rehearsal rooms, and other resources available from May onward.

Contractors are finishing up the first stages of interior refit, one film production company has already relocated to the administrative spaces, the first twelve studio artists have been selected, and new creative projects and ideas are already buzzing about the place (along with plenty of contractors and tradesmen).

"It's such an exciting step to be making," said Wellington Arts Advisor Eric Holowacz, who will be moving offices from the existing arts centre in the Oriental Bay Rotunda to the new two-building facility in Abel Smith Street. "There will be seven floors of space, with an emphasis on creative production and arts practice, as well as a diversity of ideas, disciplines, and developments in every corner."

Wellington City Council has spent the past two years talking to the creative community, building the policy and budget support, studying the trends of local cultural production, and trying to put the right pieces together for a bold new arts space.

"By my reckoning, it has come together nicely," remarked Holowacz, "but in a way that will place the focus on the creative people working and collaborating there and in our city. The sculptors, film-makers, writers, producers, guitarists, and arts managers will be the ones energising and shaping the centre, once the physical facility is fully refurbished and populated (expected in July 2005). Even after July, the approach will be to let new ideas come about organically, to shed under-utilised skin, and always adapt to cultural and creative needs ever-after."

An outline of some of the initial resources that will be offered follows. Those interested in any of these, as well as those seeking arts programmes and services in Wellington, should contact Holowacz on 385-1929 or arts@wcc.govt.nz

STUDIOS
The new arts centre will contain 28 artist studio spaces on two floors, with rents beginning at $50/week (gst and utilities included). Deadline to apply for a studio is April 11, and the selection will be guided by an advisory panel. The emphasis of studios will be to support emerging and early-career artists, working in any medium or discipline. However, all applications and levels will be considered. Studios will be offered for up to two years. The Studio floors also include a wet/clean up area, common room, kitchen facility, and photographic darkroom.

COMMUNITY ARTS FACILITIES
The new arts centre will house a complex of meeting and workshops rooms, designed for community art courses, instruction, lectures, and group assemblies. Existing term courses and arts activities, currently offered at the Oriental Bay Rotunda location, will be transferred to the new centre in late April. Those interested in offering creative workshops or classes, from beginner to advanced specialist, should contact the new arts centre for details.

OFFICE AND PROJECT SPACE
The new facility will also provide a home to small and large cultural organisations, event managers, and arts-based producers. Permanent administrative space, presently being assigned, ranges from one-room offices to larger office clusters or open plan suites. Information for prospective tenants is now available. For seasonal or variable-staffed organisations, the centre will also offer a separate project space with hot desks and work stations that can be booked for casual, short-term, and seasonal use.

REHEARSAL SPACES
The centre will also comprise a performance/rehearsal space with a seating capacity of 50-75, a studio-sized performance rehearsal space, storage for props and gear, and three sound-proofed music rooms. All of these will be hired hourly, and can be booked from mid April on.

EXHIBITION SPACE
The arts centre lobby will open to a dedicated exhibition space. This gallery will focus on the artists working within the centre, as well as exhibitions proposed by emerging curators, local and national visual arts organisations, and partner events. An application framework will be developed in late April, and expressions of interest for the May-July exhibitions can be made at any time.

NETWORKING AND ADVANCEMENT
The arts centre's periodic email alert, The No.8 Wire, began last year as an attempt to regularly connect a short list of creative people in Wellington. It has grown to include over 750 email contacts, who receive, contribute to, and (hopefully) take advantage of the arts opportunities highlighted in each issue. Content comprises 30 or 40 items of note, a transcribed interview with a Wellington creative person, links to informative articles in other journals or websites, quotes, and details about funding, jobs, commissions, and collaborations. This week marks the 30th edition of Wellington's No.8 Wire. To request one in your in-box, send an email to arts@wcc.govt.nz and ask to be added. To inspect past editions and interviews, point your browser to www.arts.blogspot.com

After April 18, if you're in the neighbourhood, stop by Wellington's new arts centre. The facility is at 61-69 Abel Smith Street (former Board of Education buildings in back of Real Groovy Records), between Cuba and Victoria Streets.


For more information:
Eric Holowacz
Wellington Arts Centre
385-1929
arts@wcc.govt.nz

See the Funny Side

Press Release: Wellington City Council
07 April 2005


Twenty-five Wellington cartoonists will be attempting to divert Wellington library-goers from the more serious business of reading ñ or at least drinking coffee.

The new exhibition in Wellington City Council's Mezzo-space gallery, next to the Wellington Central Library cafe, opens on 14 April and runs until 29 April.

On display will be sixty examples of the cartoonistsí art, Members of the public will have the opportunity to experience the diversity of graphical styles, social statement, political commentary, and humour. "This is the most diverse cartoon exhibition ever held in New Zealand," says organiser and Capital Times cartoonist Grant Buist. "The artists are caricaturists, political cartoonists, strip cartoonists, webcomic creators, comic illustrators, fantasy artists and satirists," he says.

The artists have selected their favourite works for the exhibition, including a mixture of originals and prints. Their works have been published in newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, student media, and online.

"There are original pages from graphic novels, posters designed especially for the exhibition, and a reading table of material," Buist says. "Comics and cartoon art are such a ubiquitous and popular part of our culture," says Eric Holowacz, Community Arts Co-ordinator for Wellington City Council. "In many ways though, like other powerful forms of creative expression, cartoon art is able to tell us what our culture is ñ below the whimsical or gilded surface. People who visit this exhibition will know what I mean."

The exhibition is designed to complement several other comics events in Wellington's creative capital. The Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo takes over the Queenís Wharf Events Centre on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April, and the gallery at 91 Aro Street is offering a NZ Comics Weekend at the same time.

Artists participating in the Mezzo-space exhibition are: Jarrod Baker, Edward Lynden Bell, Tim Bollinger, Greg Broadmore, Grant Buist, Rob Cruikshank, Victoria Dreyer, Rosi Duthie, Ari Freeman, Brent Harpur, India Kalff, Robyn Kenealy, Martin Molloy, Simon Morse, Robbie Neilson, David Raw, Norman Levido, Grace Campbell Russell, Alexandra Saunders, Rachel Smythe, The Sprayah, stupidlikeafox, Carlos Wedde, Brent Willis, and Jem Yoshioka. Mezzo-space, a temporary exhibition hall for emerging and under-represented local artists, was established last year in a vacated bookstore next to Clarkís Cafe in the central library.