Hamilton Arts Agenda
Hamilton Arts Agenda
“Creativity at every turn: Hamilton, a city that celebrates all Arts.
He auaha tanga o ngaa wa katoa, ko Kirikiriroa, he taone whakanui i ngaa mahi toi “
Hamilton’s arts sector plays a key role in our city’s identity. The Hamilton Arts Agenda was developed to support and grow this thriving sector by providing direction and leadership. It identifies five priority areas of focus that will help achieve the vision.
The development of the Arts Agenda has had valuable input from the Hamilton Arts Sector Reference Group, other key arts leaders and the community throughout its development in 2011/12.
It covers all arts areas – theatre, music, dance, printmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, traditional and contemporary Maori arts, applied arts, fashion, digital design, architectural design, film/moving image, public art, literature, creative economies, dedicated use arts facilities, arts events and awards, arts organisations, arts education, funding, policies and plans, audience development, regional and national context – and acts as a platform for agencies and groups in the arts sector to collaborate on important decision making and work towards the agreed priorities.
Five priorities
Grow visibility and community engagement in all Arts
- Increase public awareness and audience engagement in arts and cultural activity.
- Recognise and support the contribution local art practitioners make to our city’s cultural life.
- Strengthen Maori and culturally diverse art practice and arts audiences.
- Develop arts communications and foster relationships to encourage visibility of the arts through the media.
Integrate art into a wide range of activity in the city
- Making the arts part of our everyday experience.
- Raise the profile and development of Hamilton’s identity through the development of public art in the city.
Collaboration and partnership
- Facilitate collaboration for the purposes of leadership, advocacy, promotion, and capacity building of the arts.
- Encourage increased central government and corporate support for the arts in Hamilton through active collaboration on local, national and international levels.
Enhance Hamilton as a highly desirable location to study and develop careers in the arts
- Grow networks and increase collaboration between the secondary and tertiary education sectors.
- Fully utilise Hamilton’s strengths to market the city as a highly desirable city to study the arts.
- Strengthen active links between tertiary education institutions and creative economies, so our young people utilise opportunities on their doorstep.
- Develop Hamilton’s creative economy.
Develop spaces in ways that enable the Hamilton arts community to flourish
- Enhance Hamilton by providing a range of venues that support and develop the performing arts sector.
- Provide leadership to develop infrastructure to support a nationally recognised public art collection in Hamilton.
- Encourage a high level of arts activity in spaces around Hamilton that are not usually seen as arts spaces or venues.
- Encourage and support the provision of a physical location for the Hamilton arts community to focus activity and networking in the central city.
Taking the strategy forward
The aspirations set out in the strategy will be overseen by Hamilton's Arts Forum, which carries out a number of roles including performing as a think tank and nurturing new ideas, providing strategic direction and co-ordinating new projects.
The members of this Hamilton's Arts Forum are:
Jeremy Bell (community representative)
Rupert D'Cruze (community representative)
Julie Hardaker (Hamilton Mayor)
Ann Hardy (University of Waikato)
Muriwai Ihakara (Creative New Zealand)
Tipa Mahuta (Tainui)
Margi Moore (Wintec)
Sarah Nathan (Creative Waikato)
Pam Roa (community representative)
Lance Vervoort (GM Community, HCC)
Dorothy Wakeling (community representative)
Eamonn Walsh (community representative)
Activity in the five priority areas will be regularly evaluated, encouraging on-going dialogue on current issues. A reporting ‘scorecard’ will be developed and made available online annually giving everyone the opportunity to see how the city is progressing.
The success of the Arts Agenda is dependent on the actions and contributions made by the people of Hamilton, and in particular the stakeholders, institutions, investors and the arts community who will shape Hamilton’s thriving arts sector.
Now, the people of Hamilton need to lead the way and embrace the Arts Agenda vision, advocate for it, celebrate it, champion it, and challenge the process when it doesn’t occur.
For more information about the Arts Forum; a list of partners committed to achieving the vision; ideas, initiatives and projects to achieve the five priority ideas; and how you might be able to get involved to help make this vision a reality,
Download 
Hamilton Arts Agenda (PDF, 280 KB)
Contact us
If you’d like to put your name on a contact list for the Arts Agenda then please email Hamilton City Council's Strategy & Research team.