The Whakatāne Creative Communities Scheme is aimed at increasing participation in the arts at a local level and increasing the range and diversity of arts available within communities.

The next round of funding opens Wednesday, 27 March 2024 and closes Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 5 pm.

• Download the Creative Communities Scheme Application Form - (DOCX, 88 KB)
• Creative Communities Scheme Application Guide - (PDF, 277 KB)

Join our mailing list for updates about the Creative Communities Scheme.

Who can apply for funds

Individuals or groups can apply for funds. Individuals must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents. All applications, whether from individuals or groups, must identify the benefits of the proposed project to the community.

If you have already received Creative Communities Scheme funding for a project, you must complete a Project Completion Report (available from grants@whakatane.govt.nz) before making another application, unless the project is still in progress. However, you are encouraged to send a request to grants@whakatane.govt.nz to assess your eligibility.

The three categories are:

• Access and Participation - Your project will create opportunities for local communities to engage with and participate in the arts.
• Diversity - Your project will support the diverse arts and cultural traditions of local communities, enriching and promoting their uniqueness and cultural diversity.
• Young People - Your project will enable and encourage young people (under 18 years) to engage with and actively participate in the arts.

Assessment

For all rounds, applications are considered by the Creative New Zealand Community Funding Committee twice a year. Applicants are notified of the decision within two weeks of the meeting. 

To get funding through the Creative Communities Scheme, your arts project must do at least one of the following:

Participation

Create opportunities for local communities to engage with, and participate in local arts activities, for example:

• Performances by community choirs, hip-hop groups, theatre companies, musicians, or poets
• Workshops on printmaking, writing or dancing
• Creation of new tukutuku, whakairo or kowhaiwhai for a local marae
• Exhibitions by local craft groups promoting weaving, pottery and carving
• Festivals featuring local artists
• Creation of a community film or a public artwork by a community
• Artist residencies involving local artists or communities
• Seminars for local artist development.

Diversity

Support the diverse artistic cultural traditions of local communities, for example:

• Workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals, or exhibitions in Māori or Pasifika heritage or contemporary art forms
• Workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals, or exhibitions by local migrant communities
• Arts projects bringing together groups from a range of different communities
• Workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals, or exhibitions by groups with experience of disability or mental illness.

Young people

Enable young people (under 18 years) to engage with, and participate in the arts, for example:

• A group of young people working with an artist to create a mural or street art
• A group of young people creating a film about an issue that is important to them
• Printing a collection of writing by young people
• Music workshops for young people
• An exhibition of visual artwork by young people

Your project must also:

• Take place within the city or district where the application is made
• Be completed within 12 months of funding advice being provided
• Benefit local communities
• Not have started or finished before Creative Communities Scheme funding is approved
• Not have already been funded through Creative New Zealand’s other arts funding programmes.

If your project receives Creative Communities Scheme funding, you must acknowledge the assistance of the scheme on any promotional material, using the local Creative Communities Scheme logo. See the Creative Communities Scheme logos and guidelines.

Accountability

Recipients of funding through the Whakatāne Creative Communities Scheme are required to complete an Accountability Form within which they must:

• Specify how the grant was spent and attach evidence of expenditure such as receipts, invoices or signed statements by the club or organisation
• Report the benefits of having received the assistance.

Creative Communities Committee

The Creative Communities Committee is made up of three Council members and four community representatives who help prioritise and allocate funding. Representatives are nominated and participation is encouraged from youth, creative artists from different fields of the arts (description of which can be found on Creative NZ website www.creativenz.govt.nz ). Calls for nomination for the community representatives will be advertised on the website, through social media channels and other identified channels.

Find out more

Access Creative New Zealand's Community Arts Toolkit - a best practice guide to community arts projects in Aotearoa New Zealand.

For further information on the Whakatāne Creative Communities Scheme or you would like to learn more about Creative NZ funding, contact our Community Funding Advisor on 07 306 0500 or email grants@whakatane.govt.nz.