Wild call for NZ artists

Established New Zealand artists have been invited to apply for a revamped programme aimed at boosting conservation and culture awareness.

The programme, Wild Creations, was announced by the Minister of Conservation and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Maggie Barry.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) and Creative New Zealand are also collaborating to support participants to produce art based on their experiences.

Creative New Zealand is giving $36,000 towards artists’ travel and other associated costs.

Senior manager of arts policy, capability and international at Creative New Zealand, Cath Cardiff said the work created could help raise awareness of conservation issues.

“Wild Creations will support artists who want to be inspired by experiencing the people, stories and challenges of New Zealand’s unique natural and historic heritage.”

Mrs Cardiff hoped the creations would help lead to greater public engagement with the arts, through exhibitions, performances and associated publicity.

The revamped programme offers artists a larger range of opportunities than the previous version, which ran between 2002 and 2012.

Mrs Cardiff said a greater variety of DOC experiences would be on offer this year.

They include an iwi engagement experience, community group volunteering experience and working alongside kakapo recovery.

Up to three artists a year are chosen to be a part of the programme.

“We have to distribute funding across a wide variety of artforms and initiatives. We think that offering experiences to three artists over one year strikes the right balance,” Mrs Cardiff said.

She expected all three spots to be filled quickly after the application date closed on June 1.

“We have had a lot of positive feedback since the launch, including a very high level of engagement on social media. We expect a number of high quality applications for the programme.”

The artists who are selected will be able to embark the DOC experiences between November this year and June next year.

The initiative will help bring conservation into light and will help support artists with accommodation at DOC sites and transport to get there.

More information is available on the website.