New Zealand: Apply for Creative Communities Scheme

The Creative Communities Scheme is a partnership between Creative New Zealand (CNZ) and local authorities, such as Taupō District Council. Projects that get funded do at least one of the following:

• increase participation in the arts or culture at a local level, or
• increase the range and diversity of arts and culture available, or
• enable and encourage young people to engage in the arts.

Funding Criteria

• There are three funding criteria under the Creative Communities Scheme:
  • Access and participation
    • The project will create opportunities for local communities to engage with and participate in local arts activities, eg:
      • performances by community choirs, hip-hop groups, theatre companies or poets
      • workshops on printmaking, writing or dancing
      • exhibitions by local craft groups promoting weaving, pottery or carving
      • festivals featuring local artists
      • creation of a film or public artwork by a community
      • development of new tukutuku, whakairo or kōwhaiwhai for a local marae
      • artist residencies involving local artists or communities
      • seminars for the development of local artists.
  • Diversity
    • The project will support the diverse artistic cultural traditions of local communities, enriching and promoting their uniqueness and cultural diversity, eg:
      • workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals or exhibitions in Māori or Pasifika heritage or contemporary artforms
      • workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals or exhibitions by local migrant communities
      • arts projects that bring 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
    • The project will enable and encourage young people (under 18) to engage with and actively participate in the arts, eg:
      • 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’s important to them
      • publication of a collection of writings by young people
      • music workshops for young people
      • an exhibition of visual art work by young people.

Funding Information

• There is no limit to how much you can apply for, but most CCS grants tend to be under $2,000.

To be eligible, projects must:

• Take place within Taupō District
• Benefit local communities
• Not have already been funded through Creative New Zealand’s other arts funding programmes.
• must have an arts focus
• must have identified one of the three funding criteria
• must not have begun before any CCS funding is approved
• must be scheduled to be completed within 12 months after funding is approved.

Examples of projects that meet the criteria:

• Access and participation
• Performances by community choirs, hip-hop groups, theatre companies or poets.
• Workshops on printmaking, writing, dancing or other creative forms.
• 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.
• Development of new tukutuku, whakairo or kōwhaiwhai for a local marae.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant
  • if the applicant is an individual they must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
    • if the application is from a group or organisation, they must be based in New Zealand
    • if the applicant is from a business the project must have a community based art focus – CCS can fund professional arts activity and arts businesses projects even if this is the ‘core business’ of that individual or business, but provide evidence that no profit will be made.
      • e.g. A dance school putting on an end of year production with their students. It would be appropriate for them to apply for costs associated with the production (administrative and artistic fees, promotion, venue hire, materials, production costs) however they would expect to see all the estimated income from the project (e.g. a portion of the student fees and/or ticket sales in this instance) included in the budget.
  • Please remember:  CCS can only support costs that are associated with the delivery of a specific project.
    • if the applicant has already received funding from CCS for another project, they must have completed a satisfactory Project Completion Report for the other project before they can make another application, unless the other project is still in progress.

For more information, visit Taupō District Council.