Urban Dream Brokerage to close in Wellington with a call to support artists developing work independently in the city

Brides, Barbarian Productions, Bowen House, 2013

A letter to our city, our artists, our property owners, our supporters.

We have loved changing Wellington City’s dynamic through Letting Space’s Urban Dream Brokerage service - with thanks to some remarkable creative people, property owners and the funding of the Wellington City Council and Wellington Community Trust.

Over the past five and half years, Urban Dream Brokerage in Wellington has placed over 300 creators and artists in 45 spaces with 61 projects. Images and details of these can be found here, including three new, current projects. Some have been short, others have lasted much longer – the amazing group Coliberate have just finished 18 months running  a mental health gym in Featherston Street, for example.

On 30th June we come to the end of a three-year contract with Wellington City Council for the delivery of the service. Letting Space has made the decision not to renew this contract. Rather we will do new work under the auspices of our trust, the Wellington Independent Arts Trust. 

We all continue to look for ways to make Wellington a diverse and people-oriented place. In terms of the brokerage, property owners will tell you they are facing unprecedented issues with earthquake strengthening plus a far higher demand for retail spaces in the city than when we began, during a recession. It has got harder and harder for us to find spare spaces in a popular little city.

It remains key work to provide infrastructure for independent artists. This is our challenge to council, to organisations, to all: if you wish Wellington to remain creative you need to prioritise directly supporting the city's most dynamic artists, through funds or resources such as space. It is in their hands, not established organisations or events, that the future lies. This needs new and different energies right now.

We also need to celebrate and thank our city. The UDB projects have seen artists and other creatives consistently and uniquely challenge the expectation of the city’s offerings. They have helped us recognise that our city needs to provide diverse living spaces for all, where many people feel included and new ideas can take shape. Where artists and other creatives have the space to grow new enterprises and ways of working, developing their own interaction with the city.

This has led to us working in Dunedin - where a programme now thrives, and programmes in Porirua and Masterton, as well as providing inspiration and advice to other cities nationwide and overseas. We’ve helped along the way with the development of proposals with many groups and in this last year have offered a monthly lunchtime gathering and podcast and, currently, a mentoring programme.

We’ve loved working with artists and makers, helping them see their ideas to fruition. Many have gone on to develop stronger practices and businesses as part of the city.

We continue to believe this kind of work is vital and special to Wellington’s identity. A place where artists feel they can be part of the city’s fabric. It’s something that helped the notion of being a ‘creative capital’. We’re thrilled to see artist run spaces like Te Haukāinga, meanwhile and play_station join others in the CBD in the last two years – artists are stepping up and taking on property.  Others also need to lead and some are looking for space.

In May 2017 we conducted focus groups and surveyed of artists with experience in working in unconventional spaces about what they really need to stay active and sustained in Wellington.  A report on this can be found here.

We think it’s time to heed the lead of authorities like Dunedin City Council currently and work actively to see how artists can be more embedded in infrastructure.

Artists need more than event presentation space and promotion - they need space for development, where they can collaborate and be more part of the city. They suffer from a lack of the working spaces and connections that other creatives are gaining from co-share working spaces.

Artists need to be funded to be artists - to develop, think and contribute to Wellington’s public, private and government institutions. It’s about artists working to be more embedded dynamic activators of the city. And it’s about recognising artists’ time and need for development potential, rather than seeing them as temporary pop-ups, or as free agents of lightweight cool projects. It's about seeing them as contributors to our city’s development.

We hope Urban Dream Brokerage has helped challenge what exchange means for Wellington’s CBD - non-commercial activity as a vital part of the urban infrastructure. Projects like Moodbank, People’s Cinema, Co-Liberate, Political Cuts, to name a few, have gone on to have lives in other places, following the legacy of Letting Space produced and curated projects in the city like Kim Paton’s Freestore.  Temporary sometimes leads to permanent, but even without physical legacy we think the traces of the network that has been created have a lasting resonance for many creators in Wellington.

Urban Dream Brokerage ends in June but we are encouraging others to pick up the challenge to do this work. Never underestimate the generosity there is amongst property and business owners who understand how value in a city needs to work in different ways and are committed to Wellington’s arts ecosystem. Expect knockbacks, but hold to your vision!

We are making our resources, forms and processes available through Creative Commons for anyone to pick up. A link to these will be posted on our website, our blog and through our social media threads soon.

All three of us are looking forward to continuing to work with our many dear friends and valued colleagues to continue to make Wellington such a special place to live and work. Thank you for the amazing work you do.

Ngā mihi,

Helen, Mark and Sophie

Letting Space

Mentoring announced for three Urban Dream Brokerage projects

'We Spoke', Candace Smith, Performance Arcade, Wellington, March 2018

Letting Space's Urban Dream Brokerage service is thrilled to announce three artists and projects in Wellington that have been given mentors in a new peer-to-peer mentorship programme for artists working in new spaces in the city. 

Candace Smith will be mentored by artist Vivien Atkinson, who works across a variety of media and is known for her work with The See Here and Occupation Artists (website here). Candace's series of public works has commenced with installation 'We Spoke' at Performance Arcade, in which the public generated energy with a bicycle,  operating fans within a transparent space,  sealed from the wind, which gently moved mobiles made from umbrella parts (themselves deconstructed by the wind). A performer joined the work in response to the cyclists at night. Candace is interested in creating installations of reassembled objects which explore ideas around the fragmentation and reconnection associated with migration.

Rosie White and the project Playdate will be mentored by Jo Randerson, artist and co-producer of Barbarian Productions (website here). White has recently completed a Masters of Fine Arts at Massey's College of Creative Arts and will work with collaborators' on a project that is a work of craftivism or art activism, concerned with a social issue: slavery, with specific concern to the significant numbers of people in the world today trafficked for sex. New Zealand says Rosie is not exempt and the project will seek to highlight the issue.

Visual artist Mark Antony Smith and his project The Lost Future Exchange will be mentored by theatremaker Leo Gene Peters of company A Slightly Isolated Dog. This is a project Mark Antony is starting in 2018 to gather stories, dreams and remembrances of place in the central area of Wellington. It is an evolution of Ghosting About a project he did for his Masters study at Massey which included work 'Imperial Ghosts' concerning Dixon Street's Imperial Building for Lux Festival. Mark Antony Smith's previous shows also include Black Dog: Failure at Toi Poneke Gallery 2015.

We hope to announce a fourth mentored project shortly. Initial information on the kaupapa behind this mentoring scheme can be found here.

Announcing Urban Dreams Monthly Lunchtime programme 2018

Thomas King Observatory, Wellington, work residency for artist Julian Priest in 2018 with thanks to the Wellington Museums Trust.

Introducing for your diaries the Urban Dreams Monthly Tuesday lunchtime programme for March to May 2018 at Toi Poneke. We've got a great set of guests, across artforms: Leo Gene Peters, Julian Priest, Sacha Copland, Kerry Ann Lee and our mayor Justin Lester. We're always aware of the holes in knowledge between artforms even in a small city, so read on for more details on these strong artists. First gathering: next Tuesday March 13. An opportunity for artists or all kinds to network and discuss ideas working in new ways in Wellington city.

Tuesdays 12.30-2pm

March 13: On being embedded. Working with other industries and groups - what is the potential for residences or having artists embedded in different spaces in the city?

We talk with two artists who have been working in work residencies and have an interest in how their work can interact in new ways through this: theatremaker Leo Gene Peters, and visual artist Julian Priest.

Leo Gene Peters is a theatre director and maker and founder of A Slightly Isolated Dog who have been creating celebrated devised work since 2005. “We’re trying to have a conversation with the public about what matters to each of us… and through that conversation we’ll create performance work. The goal is to find new and different ways to use live performance, conversation, virtual platforms, social media (and other things) to create a space where we can meet and reflect together. A space where we can discuss important questions in our lives that we normally don’t talk about with strangers.”

A Slightly Isolated Dog are currently in residence at Creative HQ. who aim to help develop and grow businesses in Wellington through “nourishing entrepreneurial talent and driving innovation.”

Julian Priest is an artist working with participatory and technological forms and recent work explores relationships to different infrastructures including time, energy, security, health and communications. In 2017 Julian created the Citizen Water Map Lab with Letting Space as part of the Common Ground Public Art Festival where Hutt City residents and community groups were invited to collect ground water and bring it to the lab and test it with data represented in an illuminated installation that produced a map of local water quality. Julian was co-founder of early wireless freenetwork community Consume.net in London. He became an advocate for the freenetworking movement and has pursued wireless networking as a theme in fields of arts, development, and policy.

Julian is currently undertaking a residency at the Thomas King observatory Wellington (supported by the Wellington Museums Trust), an old 1912 observatory which is part of the Carter Observatory complex.

April 17: On the art of keeping in business. Sasha Copland and Kerry Ann Lee. The realities of the business of being an independent artist.

We introduce two artists both interested in working in a variety of different ways with the public and communities. Kerry Ann Lee is a celebrated visual artist, designer and educator who uses hand-made processes and socially-engaged projects to explore hybrid identities and histories of migration. She creates installation, publication and image-based work and has a long practice in independent artists’ publishing.

Sacha Copland is a dancer, choreographer and the Artistic Director of Java Dance Theatre. As she told The Big Idea here she believes in the power of dance to build empathy and her works aim to permeate and dissolve the distance between people by creating dance that “clambers into your senses and gets underneath your fingernails.” Founded in 2003 Java is a professional dance company that presents dance theatre nationally and internationally often working in site specific locations, or creating work around specific themes that engage new audiences.

May 8: On creating creative capital. Mayor Justin Lester  A discussion with our mayor who holds the arts and culture portfolio on what is needed to take our creative scene to the next level.

All events are free. You are very welcome to bring your lunch. For podcasts of the 2017 series go here.

Dunedin artists boosting environmental awareness and biodiversity

Josh Thomas (an Urban Dream Brokerage Advisory Board member) heads the water diviners at the opening of Awa HQ. Image: Justin Spiers.

Water divining in the Dunedin town belt has kicked off the first of two innovative public art commissions, which sees artists respond to the city’s environmental needs as part of Te Ao Tūroa, Dunedin’s Environment Strategy.

In a programme called Environment Envoy, Dunedin’s Urban Dream Brokerage announce two projects following a call for proposals in August: Awa HQ, a collaboration by Angela Lyon, Aroha Novak and Charlotte Parallel dedicated to Dunedin’s Toitū stream, and What Grows Where You Live, a project led by artist Ruth Evans involving revegetation and artwork creation with native plant species. The commissions, worth $6500 each, are part of Dunedin's Urban Dream Brokerage service, funded by Dunedin City Council and supported by national public art organisation Letting Space.

“We are working to encourage Dunedin’s community to see their local environment in new ways, and specifically to get more action happening to increase biodiversity,” says Dunedin City Councillor and Te Ao Tūroa Partnership Chair David Benson-Pope. “The city is also using and creating strong partnerships between different sectors to deliver a better natural environment. Artists have a vital role to play in all of this – from making new connections and encouraging partnerships to enabling people to see their world from completely different perspectives.”

Awa HQ acknowledges Toitū stream, hidden within Dunedin’s CBD, provides a vital connection to Dunedin’s environment and heritage. The project looks at the history, condition and relationships of the stream by gathering together diverse stories, experiences and responses. Treating the stream as a living entity, the artists were inspired by the passing of the Whanganui River Claims Settlement Bill, which in March which gave the Whanganui River, Te Awa Tupua, the same status as a legal person.

The project was launched with a picnic and a water divining hikoi with Stephen Kilroy and Taonga Pūoro artists Jennifer Cattermole and Jessica Latton on 25 November. They are now inviting other artists to respond to their call this coming weekend Saturday 9 December 12pm to 4pm by presenting work at Awa HQ, an empty lot at 175 Rattray Street, Dunedin, beside the now concealed stream. Featuring a range of performances, actions, discussions and picnics Awa HQ will culminate in a final hikoi on Saturday 17 February 2018.

The second project What Grows Where You Live embraces the biodiversity available in Ōtepoti/Dunedin. Focusing on the plant species raupo, harakeke, kowhai and poroporo, the project begins by working with private and public landowners to introduce native flora across the greater Dunedin region through planting schemes. Materials will be gathered from these sites to be used in constructing art works hosted in a vacant space in Dunedin’s CBD in April 2018. The exhibition will feature workshops for skills and knowledge sharing, and a zine providing understanding of where these plants grow, how to source them, and their traditional application in Māori society.

“The Environment Envoy projects will engage more of our community in the work to achieve the goals of Te Ao Tūroa,” says Councillor Benson-Pope, “and also strengthen collaboration between artists and the public, iwi, scientists, councils, business and community groups. We all have a key role to play in enhancing our environment.”

For more information: contact Katrina Thomson email: envoy.udb@gmail.com

Supporting working in city spaces

Sora Ami, Yasuaki Igarashi, Shared Lines: Wellington, October 2017. image: Ebony Lamb

Wellington is full of independent and strong minded creatives.  Our artist and producer-driven initiatives have been profoundly influential in the development of Wellington's ‘creative capital’.  We have so much history and experience to share -  learned the hard way.

So Letting Space is introducing, the UDB mentoring scheme!

As part of its Urban Dream Brokerage Programme Letting Space is offering four artists or collectives peer-to-peer mentoring to help them deliver independent arts projects in public or unconventional spaces in early 2018 in Wellington city. We want to hear from artists now, with their project ideas for the city and their mentoring needs. First deadline Friday 8 December (there will be a second deadline in February, but note its first come first served). We want to help artists share knowledge to produce independent work that interacts with the city and its publics in new ways across all artforms. For more information email urbandreambrokerage@gmail.com or contact Mark Amery 027 3566 128. And make a submission using our online form here (where we ask you to present your project idea and requirements also).  

We’ve expanded our reach to meet the needs we’re hearing from artists – that means assisting in the development of projects for public and underutilised as well vacant spaces, and providing mentoring and more support networks. Producing work in these spaces often involves working independently with a broad skillset. Artists also lack curatorial and governance feedback that others may have, and can be isolated and stretched in their resources as they develop bold new platforms. Let’s help each other!

Following the inspiration of the much-heralded Handshake project for independent practising artists (with an applied arts base) the kaupapa is that established artists and producers hand-over some of their quality knowledge but, as Handshake say “it is a two-way project that encourages symbiosis and give and take.” Let’s empower each other to think differently, and to make new kinds of stakeholder relationships in the city.

This series is working in tandem with the Urban Dreams monthly podcast and conversation series which you can listen to here.

Knitting the Sky in Wellington

“Knitting nets is universal. If one can knit a net, one can cross the ocean and connect with people. Knitting nets is part of human wisdom. If one can knit a net, one can transcend time and connect with people of the past and future.” Artist Yausaki Igarashi

From Wednesday 18 October for a week a giant colourful fishing net will rise out of Whairepo Lagoon on the Wellington Waterfront, near the Wharewaka, while a second will call out to it across the water from Frank Kitts Park. The nets are Sora-Ami (Knitting the Sky) made by Japanese artist Yasuaki Igarashi in collaboration with communities from around Eastern Japan in the three years following the Shiogama earthquake and tsunami in 2011. They are part of Shared Lines: Wellington - which Urban Dream Brokerage is supporting - a special programme of discussions and exhibitions in Wellington on 17-21 October that open out discussion about the role artists and urban design plays in earthquake resilience and community building post-earthquakes.

The installation of the work at the Wellington Waterfront Lagoon acknowledges the importance of this area to mana whenua Maori, Taranaki Whanui, as a place of fishing and connection.

The origin of Sora-Ami (Knitting the Sky) is a voyage made by the artist after the Eastern Japanese Earthquake and an encounter with a fisherman living on Miyakejima – a volcanic island in the Pacific south of Tokyo that erupts about once every 20 years. Here the artist learned how to knit fishing nets. Since the encounter in June 2011, Yasuaki has brought people together “to knit” in nine different locations throughout Japan, from the temporary housing facilities in disaster-stricken areas like Kamaishi City of Iwate Prefecture and the Urato Islands of Shiogama City in Prefecture Miyagi to Asakura Jinja in Tokyo – the Shinto Shrine whose shrine crest is a net.

The installation of the work at the Wellington Waterfront Lagoon acknowledges the importance of this area to mana whenua Maori, as a place of fishing and connection. The official launch of Sora-Ami (Knitting the Sky) is 10am Wednesday 18 October outside Te Wharewaka o Poneke. The installation will be up for one week only.

The Wellington installation of Sora-Ami (Knitting the Sky) will be the first of three installations as the nets journey to the South Island to be displayed in Christchurch and Kaikoura in a gesture that connects people from these different islands and helps to share experience and ideas.

Holding the Space for Mental Wellbeing in the Wellington CBD

"Our popular date-night relaxation choice: Mindfulness with Clay."

It’s been a year of holding the space for mental wellbeing at the second floor of 111 Customhouse Quay in the middle of the ‘business’ end of Wellington, for Co-liberate, a project the Urban Dream Brokerage service has assisted. 

It’s not a typical hang out for theatre graduates, surrounded by small businesses, fluoro lights and blue carpet.  Bop, Jody and Sarah have made it feel strongly welcoming with some simple paint and design solutions, cushions, plants and colouring activities. Now, after a year, CoLiberate are trying to work out how to make their popular workshops and activities, based around pro-active wellbeing, pay. 

“Most mental health services in New Zealand are there for people after they’ve crashed - but preventative care is hard to fund,” says Bop. She mentions the bleak experience many freelance actors and performers have trying to keep themselves ‘up,’ and thinks they have a lot to share. “Artists have this underlying expertise - people care and building self-worth.  As performers we needed a process that helped people feel buoyant – when the people are the work, you have to find a way to help them be well. Good theatre is so close to wellness.”

In this guest blog the CoLiberate team look back on their first year.

Not too long ago, an email popped up from the Urban Dream Brokerage team to let us know that it’s CoLiberate’s one year anniversary at the Studio, the space we have held on Customhouse Quay since the 31 July 2016.  At first we didn’t believe it. A whole year?

The UDB team were among the first to get excited with us. Back then we felt like three little mice with a big vision. We were dreaming about a gym culture for mental health. We knew it mattered. But we had no idea where to start.

UDB are longtime believers in transformation, so they could see the value in drawing together a community around a radical idea - to invite all kinds of people to give emotional workouts a go. To open an ongoing workshop programme to absolutely everyone. To support people to prioritise their mental health just as much as their physical health.

Somehow they got their hands on the key to everything for us… 111 Customhouse Quay. It turns out the place to start was right at the heart of Kiwi mental health: in the middle of the CBD, where so many people struggle to find balance and stability in a relentless Monday to Friday 9-to-5 routine.

We barely had time to do an excited victory lap of the Biz Dojo before we set-to on transforming what had most recently been a law firm’s officeinto Wellington’s first mental health gym. Somewhere purpose designed to help all kinds of people feel at home as they take on a new bold and open attitude to their self-care.

A year ago, we were full of ‘maybe’s and ‘what if ’s.. A year on, we are proud to say that we are an organisation of 11 who have delivered over 250 wellbeing workouts, hosted events, taught programmes, advocated for positive mental health on the TEDx stage and to 2000 plus people at various events around the country. It’s taken us a year at our Customhouse Quay home to build a community around this idea. And now that we have seen the impact, we know how much bigger this needs to get, and fast! 

UDB helped us make the jump from talking about real change, to actually doing it. Now it’s the individuals in the studio who are doing the transforming - and wow it’s been incredible to watch. We get to see all kinds of people developing self-awareness, new skills and habits, connections to purpose and identity, growing their sense of self-worth, and developing strong friendships.  The transformation is personal and powerful and a privilege to be a part of - and it’s still only the start!  The emotional workouts running every week at the moment are Reflective Writing, Wellness Wānanga (for sharing wellness hacks and verbally exploring our inner worlds), Creative Movement, Yoga, and our popular date-night relaxation choice: Mindfulness with Clay.

We can’t believe how much this testing ground has unlocked for us in a year -  we look back on how telling people we ‘needed a mental health gym’ didn’t cut it. But putting out a timetable of emotional workouts for mind health is activating real change.

It has also tested us. More than we ever would have known when we first received those keys.

The perseverance and patience we’ve had to muster as we continue to learn hard lessons about how long change takes to create. About how to pick up and carry on after a no-show session in the early days when no one knew we were there. About how to fund the infinite cups of tea that are a must-have on either side of any good emotional workout! About how to value diverse or even opposite experiences in the very same moment. About how to curate a professional environment to prototype a business model, while still maintaining a homely readiness to host individuals in need of a sanctuary that doesn’t feel like their work environment. We’ve been blown away by how people from such different demographics and backgrounds can find common ground so quickly in a space like the CoLiberate studio.

We’re inspired by the brave individuals who keep turning up to discover with us. To play. To explore. To lean into the hard conversations that can make all the difference in their lives. Those who are proactive about their wellbeing. Who won’t accept New Zealand’s current mental health prognosis. Who want to be a part of a better way.

So what now? We’re working on preparing our community and workplaces to know what to do in times of mental crisis and to know how to invest in their business’ biggest resource: their people.  Mental Health First Aid for the public is on its way, and we won’t stop until we have a country that knows how to cope with anything. 

We’re on track to build the Les Mills of mental health so that we can make positive mind health available to even more Wellingtonians.  

Making Masterton Dreams Realty

On Wednesday 28 June a spirited group of Masterton people came together for an open community meeting at Te Patukituki (the former Greenworld with its beautiful wooden open ceiling), 15 Queen Street to hatch connections and ideas for the pilot Urban Dream Brokerage in Masterton.

It was time for many introductions, percolating ideas and wishes, plus an impromptu display from Heather Bannister of some beautiful vintage sewing machines -  which she has schemes (with at least 100 she says in her collection!) to see not only on display, but in use by young and old.

It was a pretty remarkable group of about 20 representing a diversity of the community: young and old, Maori and Pakeha, newcomers to the region hungry for initiatives and older timers with a lot of history to share. Even those who professed to not being creative expressed interests that suggested they had plenty to bring.

Jade Waetford of Te Patukituki opened the hui. Te Patukituki is a fledgling community and carving space with some beautiful vision for enabling more young and Maori to feel part of the Masterton CBD, run here in this special space with the support of the Masterton Lands Trust. We’re really looking forward to working with them in partnership to see more community life in this special northern end of the CBD. 

Things are seeding in Masterton. Our call out to all in the community is to think about what causes they’d like to further, collections they know of in backrooms and garages that deserve wider exposure, or ideas for the CBD they could trial (be it an event in open space or project in a vacant space). What ideas could be brought to life that demonstrate some different aspects of this town?

If you’ve got something even starting to percolate drop Anneke Wolterbeek the Urban Dream Broker a line at udbmasterton@gmail.com to talk more on how a dream could be ‘realty’.  

Images: Anneke Wolterbeek

Sharing and learning in Europe

Julian Priest with Sophie Jerram in Helsingor, Denmark

We asked Letting Space's Sophie Jerram what’s she doing in Europe currently for 6 weeks and this was her response:

Primarily I'm retrieving my 15 year old son who has been living here and found Denmark to be a very welcoming and easy place to be 15 in.  But also I’ve been flown to Helsingør (thanks Danish Arts Foundation) - home to Kronborg Castle where Hamlet was set - to present our work and the Urban Dream Brokerage as a potentially radical model of working with artists and communities in incubating new ideas for the town.

Recently colleagues from Copenhagen University launched a co-design project that's been almost a year in design and execution - a park co-designed with children aged 10-12. I helped paint and stencil some of the kids' designs onto wood to help meet the deadline this week.  I taught at the Urban Intervention Studio too with colleagues there - some may recognise Anne Wagner who visited New Zealand recently.

I've just attended an incredible international municipalism summit in Barcelona 'Fearless Cities' with people from 180 countries. In Barcelona in 2015 a group of self-organising activists were voted into key roles in Council, including Mayor, through the platform Barcelona En Comu. Lots of food for thought about how we might be more inclusive in our community planning. I heard about one small town in Spain - Celrá - who used participatory budgeting with residents, and now fund a drop in psychological service in the town, and a service that rings all the elderly residents to wish them a good morning.

I’ve just spoken about Urban Dream Brokerage at a Landscape Futures conference, and my final gig on 10th of July in Utrecht, Netherlands is with the International Association for the Study of the Commons. I will be visiting Urban Commons in Rotterdam and connecting with the great art and policy organisation, Casco.

Looking forward to sharing ideas about co-design, municipalism and landscape with New Zealand on return in August.

Teaching at the urban intervention studio, Copenhagen University

Urban Dreams Wellington: A Review 2017

A review of the needs of artists working outside conventional venues

Unsettled, Rana Haddad and Pascal Hachem, Letting Space May 2017. Image: Gabrielle McKone

Introduction

This review has brought together the feedback of artists and arts producers across arts disciplines with extensive experience working in public space outside conventional venues (theatres, galleries and auditoriums). We believe this to be a vital, distinctive aspect of Wellington’s cultural identity past and present.

This is part of an organisational review of the Urban Dream Brokerage (UDB) service in Wellington, run by public art and urban revitalisation organisation Letting Space.  Letting Space and the UDB have played a strong role in the last seven years in brokering spaces and facilitating projects that work in this area. We are two years into a three year contract with Wellington City Council and want to ensure our work is meeting the needs of the diverse, strong practice of artists of all kinds working outside resourced venues, and provide some wider advocacy on their priorities.

Consultation was undertaken with 65 experienced respondents, with a written survey and two two hour hui.

“Artists are the life and soul of the city, yet there is no infrastructure for them to develop their companies. There needs to be support for them to be sustainable businesses, like there is support for start-up tech companies.”

Summary

Strong calls were made for:

• More access to development, performance and presentation spaces that allow companies to work together and learn from each other.

• Mentoring at all levels, with more fluid models. Despite extensive experience, 66% of survey respondents would find mentoring of use in developing professional practice working in new spaces in the city.

• The establishment of mixed-use spaces that allows for collaboration, community, experimentation and development of audience across producers.

• More active work by WCC and others in support structures for emerging artists.

• Involving artists in urban design and other place-based work from early in the process.

• The retention of a brokering role that assists with negotiating property, public space use and regulatory requirements.

• The sharing of resources and information between producers and with local authorities, using digital and physical means.

• Assistance with funding management/applications and process.

• 89% of respondents would like more opportunities to work in space outside of existing venues in Wellington

• 41% of respondents do not have sufficient access to affordable space for their practice.

• 28% said they have sufficient access to affordable space for their practice most of the time but there are times when they could do with more.

“For us the issue is in accessing large spaces which are already there e.g. the St James or Opera House. Because they are run by PWV, they become very difficult to access, financially and also with management.”

What is needed for artists working outside conventional venues in Wellington? Ground-up responses

SEEKING A SENSE OF PERMISSION

There have been dramatic changes to Wellington over the last 15 years which have impacted on the ability for artists to contribute to the city. Respondents have commented much on the conditions that allowed the development of artists and arts organisations in the city in the 1980s and 1990s and how conditions have changed.

It is perceived that there were less regulatory issues to doing work outside venues in the 1980s and 90s that led to a fertile emerging culture. Property was easier to access, event culture less formalised, it was easier to survive as an artist financially and contribute, and the media and cultural communities were less soloed and more artist-run. More recently access to property has become more difficult due to constraints placed by the 2011-12 and 2016 earthquakes.

It was acknowledged that their have been strong artist-run initiatives established in recent years in terms of visual and performing artist studio, office and exhibition space, yet there is a pervading feeling that artists feel less permission to exercise their use of public space. 

“Engage Pasifika and Tangata Whenua in decision making processes about how space is used... The art world can have very fixed ideas about how space and resources should be shared. We need to learn about having face to face conversations, hui and meetings. At which we welcome and feed people.”

 

Common concerns

Generally there was a very strong call for working more in public space, enabling artists to be relevant and have strong social and political connection in people’s lives. An opportunity was recognised by many in independent feedback for Wellington to be far stronger in how it enables artists to contribute to the city. Respondents felt Wellington could really lead in the way in how it approaches funding and considering artist’s regulatory needs in working in public space, building on its solid reputation with innovative art in public space initiatives.

Others:

• Building on Wellington’s ‘liveable city’ image in enabling the arts to lead in sustainable resource use.

• Platforms for Maori and Pacific Island practitioners and processes with which they feel comfortable.

• More mobile, pop-up venue options developed

• Stronger mechanisms to get mana whenua feedback and meet mana whenua and hui.

• Changes to the Positively Wellington Venue Subsidy scheme to allow more Wellington artists to use these venues - as venues have become more developed access has also diminished.

• Clarity on regulations in the use of public space and an agency to assist with this.

• Artists working in residence and as part of planning from early on in process with WCC and businesses.

• Dealing to the gaps for artists coming out of university education and transitioning into building professions - there were seen to be more pathways created by these emerging artists themselves in the 1990s

“Forums or open conversations where people who have less connections can meet other artists and/or pitch ideas and gain collaborators... Additionally, offering feedback and/or mentoring artists through application processes for unconventional venues might be helpful.”

Survey results in graphic form

Verbatim - a selection of comments

“I think the need for UDB / Letting Space is more urgent than ever. Because we now live our lives on-line, we are all part of fractured audiences and our common civic conversation is on the brink of disappearing.”

“As an artist I end up being an administrator, facilitator, and negotiator. I need support with these elements so I can focus on my work.”

“Publicly funded spaces which afford full autonomy. Toi Poneke is a fantastic example of the more formal model that could be adapted. 19 Tory St etc... We shouldn't have a single artist leaving art school without access to space to develop and show work.”

“WCC need to invest in real estate for artists… use more empty space around town, Wellington seems to have heaps (indoor and outdoor). Temporary projects (sculpture garden, open studios, short term residency space for locals with community engagement). We would like to shortcut getting more art in people’s lives, visible to a general audience.”

“Prepare to partner up together with allies and resource share to help make new spaces more viable for people to create their work within.”

“Artists often struggle to build relationships with property managers directly.”

“Some more opportunities for temporary sculptural interventions supported by the Council would be ideal.”

“Greater collaboration between local and Wellington-based businesses… there are almost no New Zealand-based corporate responsibility programs that have a focus on engagement and support of the arts... Collaborating together, this partnership would definitely deepen the role of arts to make it a vital part of our city.”

“Discovering new spaces that are opened up for public or artists allows a deepening and a connection to a place… I want artists to be valued and given trust, time and resources to develop those deeper and more visible roles…”

“Potentially UDB could do a 6 monthly PI mini fest........it would help get the word out and also give a variety of performers a chance to investigate what it means....”

“Encourage artists to be bold and creative within our city-bounds, and resource them more financially, so that they can really commit to telling their stories, and sharing their love of the city, and be less stressed on just surviving. We can't dream effectively if just there for survival. It really is a time of student artists and young artists being forced out by rising rents… WCC must step up and acknowledge we are in the midst of an economic crisis that will drive artists, arts agencies and youth out of Wellington.”

“At Tory Street Studio we have been working closely with the council and our neighbours to reinvent our block of Tory St since being cordoned off after the earthquake. We are thinking about our place in the city and our sense of belonging and finding ways to contribute from the very earliest stages of planning. We see potential for this process to be used again in other sites. We need to re-connect with audiences. People are no longer so committed to attending at commercial venues. People want to engage with work in public spaces.”

“See the council working actively with a range of artists when working on public projects (community centres, public space development, etc) involving the extended arts from the beginning in projects.”

“There needs to be more visible platforms to create momentum and lift the profile of what artists are doing. Regularity and consistency is the best way to support growth. Currently I don't think the arts are well connected with each other in Wellington.”

“Spaces that encourage development in audience and art form. Spaces that don't gobble resources that could be used more effectively in helping to pay artists and performers. Spaces that enable and encourage art practice.”

“Working with different industries: scientists, politicians, economists, medical profession, food and nutrition industry to look at ways in which the arts can respond to and communicate issues that exist across our society. Encouraging discussion around issues, engaging communities who feel strongly about issues to speak and aiding in making them heard.”

“Over the last couple of years we have attempted to make connections with some of Wellington's migrant communities, and to encourage for those communities to present concerts at Pyramid Club. A concert of Persian music last year was an example of a real, positive interaction between a community of fairly recent migrants and the community of an independent arts space. I would love to be able to instigate more events like this.”

“Need to keep producers in Wellington, for Wellington-made events - need more support with this - exciting to imagine a space where producers can work/network/share resources.”

“If we want citizens to engage we need to educate them about the complexities of urban problems. Then we need to unleash the utopian vision. Why not start with kids?  Kids, Schools. Maori and Pasifika communities are doing some of the best work in this area.”

“You have changed the landscape of people using public space and done many good things. I think you need to expand your artists you work with and consider the processes you use to get people involved. I also think you need to protect artists and their projects…  I would like to see a more collective and open approach to developing in the future. People from diverse communities are the ones who know what those communities need. How can you partner with community leaders to listen to and learn from them?”

“The extent of the ongoing positive effects of your work is immeasurable. I have seen many many people transformed through the work carried out in Porirua City alone. There has been a dramatic shift in the city and community thinking which has been amazing to witness and be a part of.”

“I would encourage UDB to go deeper to understanding the needs of the communities of artists with which they work, to make sure that their agreements between building owners and artists work with the needs of the artists.”

5. Conclusion and a call for action

Wellington is known for its the multi-disciplinary arts and culture projects that occur outside of conventional spaces. This has a rich history, past and present through events, festivals and artist run spaces. It has been vital in shaping the city’s identity but also fundamental in the development of our stellar artists and their producers. It is our belief that conditions that allow artists to grow as part of the city is vital to any city’s health. Wellington is a city that artists want to be in conversation with, and this has been recognised by the leading role taken by Wellington City Council in public art, and in the growth of some cornerstone event and festival based organisations.

We would like to work with other organisations towards :

• A programme of mentorship and ongoing conversations that inspire artists to share resources and feel more permission to interact with the city.

• Advocating and assisting with the activation by artists of public space and underutilised space (as well as vacant commercial space) that speaks directly to the city’s future needs and is in conversation with its history and environment.

• Clarifying and communicating the requirements for artists wishing to use space outside conventional venues.

• Assisting in the growth of more artist mixed-use spaces for collaboration, development and presentation.  

• Advocating the distinctive role in Wellington artists have in a creative use of urban space that involves innovation and participation.      

Appendices

The online survey

Sent to 100 identified artists and producers across all disciplines with strong experience working outside conventional venues. We had 35 strong responses. The full survey responses are available as a spreadsheet (anonymous) here.

The respondents (individual comments are not attributed): Claire Mabey  and Andrew Laking (Pirate and Queen, Litcrawl, Loemis), Gabrielle O’Connor (artist), Sam Trubridge (Performance Arcade), Kedron Parker (artist), Sian Torrington (artist), Anton Carter (DANZ), Gina Matchitt (artist), Jordana Bragg (artist, Meanwhile), Jo Randerson (Barbarian), Erica Van Zon (artist, WCC), Robbie Whyte (artist), Gina Matchitt (artist), Barry Thomas (artist, Yeti Productions), Joel Baxendale (Binge Culture), Ania Upstill (artist), Jhana Millers (artist, 30 Upstairs, The Seehere), Sian Torrington (artist), Andreas Lepper (musician), Leo Gene Peters (theatre, An Isolated Dog), Bryce Galloway (artist, Massey), Ebony Lamb (musician), Kerry Ann lee (artist), Daniel Beban (musician, Pyramid Club/FREDS), Debbie Fish (producer, Goldfish Creative), Hannah Smith (Trick of the Light Theatre), Kirsty Lilico/Ruth Thomas Edmond (artists, Tory Street Studios), Linda Lee (artist, produced Shared Lines), Lucy Marinkovich (dancer, Borderline Arts Ensemble), Malia Johnston (choreographer, Movement of the Human), Marcus McShane (light artist), Mark Williams (Circuit), Paul Forrest (artist), Ruby Joy Eade (artist), Sherilee Kahui (Hank of Thread), Sian Montgomery-Neutze (artist, Toi Wahine), Sophie Davis (Enjoy Gallery) and Tanemahuta Gray (choreographer, Kahukura Taki Rua Productions).

B. Two two-hour Hui

These were held with an open invitation and attended by 30 people. We were very pleased with the interest and the high calibre of experience brought together. We identified projects historically that have been significant and considered the conditions that enables them, shared our dreams for the city and discussed some practical tools going forward. The combined minutes of these hui are below.