Creative New Zealand welcomes new unified Arts Council
The Chairman of the Arts Council, Dr Dick Grant, today welcomed the passing of the new Act to unify and streamline
Creative New Zealand’s governance structure.
A new 13-member Arts Council will be responsible for setting the national arts development agency’s strategy, allocating
budgets and making significant investment decisions. It will replace the existing 28-member governance and funding
structure of an Arts Council, Arts Board, Te Waka Toi (the Māori arts board) and Pacific Arts Committee (a committee of
the Arts Board).
“Creative New Zealand’s focus is on ensuring New Zealanders are able to produce, attend and participate in great arts
experiences. This new structure will help us achieve this by putting in place a more efficient and effective means of
policy-setting and decision-making,’’ Dr Grant said.
“The Arts Council is a major funder of the arts and plays a key role in supporting the arts communities in New Zealand.
The new Act will enable Creative New Zealand to be more responsive to the arts creators, presenters and audiences in
those communities.”
Under the new Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act, artists will continue to have their proposals assessed by
Māori, Pacific and other external artform peers. Funding will also continue to be allocated specifically to support both
Māori and Pacific arts.
The inclusion of a minimum of four Māori and two Pacific representatives on the 13-member board will also ensure a
strong Māori and Pacific voice is included in setting Creative New Zealand’s policies and funding strategies.
Māori and Pacific members will be appointed by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage in consultation with the
Ministers for Māori and Pacific Island Affairs, respectively.
The new structure will come into effect three months after the date of Royal Assent.
Please find a link to the news release from the Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson.