Meet the Rich: Frontseat's Philanthropy Episode

This Sunday on Frontseat, TV One 10.20pm

This Sunday night Frontseat reveals the five most significant arts patrons in New Zealand. The list took six months to compile, as setting the criteria and making the choices proved a challenge.

“We canvassed far and wide to produce our cross-section of arts patrons whose support spans all parts of the creative sector. Most are extraordinarily active in the events and artists that they support, above and beyond their monetary contributions,” says Frontseat producer Gemma Gracewood.

It was difficult to quantify the true extent of their financial support because they often engage in anonymous donations on top of their known contributions. So don’t expect million-dollar figures to appear on screen, but there will be intimate profiles of these five important figures.

“In the end, the top five are not based on the size of their wallets, but on their all-round contribution to the art forms and communities they support. While not ignoring the many, many significant arts patrons who are active in the community, our research kept bringing these five names up again and again.”

The arts community had stressed to Frontseat that the value of private philanthropy was largely about the “unqualified” support it gives to the arts. “While most business sponsorship and public grants require goals to be met and reports to be written, it was felt that private patronage required the artists and institutions to simply ‘be’, and that the symbolism of that can’t be underestimated.”

The Philanthropy episode of Frontseat also features the Chair of the NZ Arts Foundation, Richard Cathie. The Foundation provides advice on private philanthropy and how to become an active, modern-day patron. And the show meets some recipients of patronage such as Lexus Songquest winner Madeleine Pierard.

Coming up on future Frontseats: British playwrighting legend Alan Bennett, and the new trends in street and graffiti art.

Best regards,
The Frontseat Team
TV One, Sunday Nights (repeated the following Sunday at 6.30am)

ENDS

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