A large range of culturally diverse arts projects are the latest to be supported by Tauranga's Creative Communities funding. They showcase a local arts scene full of diversity and ambition.

Bengali dance, South Asian fusion music, social painting, opera, and student music production are just some of the projects involved.

Over $18,000 of funding support has been given to the projects, all taking place in Tauranga in 2023.

Creative Communities is a Creative New Zealand funding programme which distributes funds through local authorities to support community arts projects. The Creative Communities scheme aims to increase participation from the local community in the arts, support the diversity of local cultural traditions, and encourage young people to participate in local arts.

Te Tuhi Mareikura Trust is one of the successful applicants from the most recent round of funding. Based in Mount Maunganui, the Trust is passionate about connecting audiences to tangata whenua artists. Spearheaded by leading Māori artists of the Tauranga Moana region, Te Tuhi Mareikura Trust will use the funding to deliver a series of wananga for local artists to develop their online presence and digital skills to connect their work to audiences around the world.

The fund also supported the Mount Art Group with a grant towards the costs of presenting their 2023 art exhibition at the Mount Surf Club. The social painting club has members from across Tauranga and has been encouraging the community to pick up a paint brush for nearly 50 years.

Tauranga has a thriving dance scene, and local audiences will have an opportunity this year to experience a performance from ‘The Dancers of Damelahamid', an indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia in Canada. This acclaimed dance company will be hosted in Tauranga by Te Puna Hauora Ki Uta Ki Tai, with their performances marking the New Zealand leg of an international exchange programme that saw the Tauranga rangatahi perform in Vancouver in 2020.

Other grants made through the Creative Communities scheme included support to the Tauranga Opera Forum to present three intimate opera performances at the Jam Factory in the Historic Village, and funding towards the production of an album of original music by students at Mount Maunganui College. Known as ‘Mount Originals', the project gives rangatahi experience in all areas of recording and releasing music; from making a demo through to designing album artwork and marketing the finished record.

Tauranga City Council's Arts and Culture Manager, James Wilson, says the fund enables the local community to access a wide range of arts, culture and creativity in the city.

'Creative Communities is all about supporting grassroots and community arts, making art accessible and available to everyone. If you've got a creative project in mind, I'd encourage you to consider applying for the next funding round in February.”

The next round of Creative Communities funding will open for applications on Wednesday, 1 February 2023.

Tauranga City Council will be hosting a free information session for interested applicants to learn more about the fund at the Historic Village on Thursday, 9 February. The meeting will include the opportunity to hear from representatives from Creative New Zealand and Tauranga City Council about funding for the arts in Tauranga.

For full details on the information session and how to make an application to the Creative Communities fund, visit https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/creativefund.