Call For Entries To Creative Places Awards 2004

Creative New Zealand Calls For Entries To Creative Places Awards 2004

Creative New Zealand is calling for entries to the Creative Places Awards 2004, which acknowledge the huge investment that local government makes in the arts of New Zealand.

Established in 1999 in partnership with Local Government New Zealand, the Creative Places Awards recogniseand celebrate innovative, arts-based initiatives by local authorities as well as the important work of the local government sector in supporting the arts.

In the new Local Government Act 2002, local authorities are required “to promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of communities”. Creative New Zealand has aligned the Creative Places Awards with the Act to ensure that it complements the Act’s focus.

Elizabeth Kerr, Chief Executive of Creative New Zealand, says the Creative Places Awards provide local authorities, large and small, with an excellent opportunity to profile their innovative arts initiatives.

“For Creative New Zealand, it’s an opportunity to recognise those councils that have made a real commitment to enhancing the wellbeing of their communities through the arts,” she says. “All of the past winners have demonstrated the positive impact that creative places and spaces have on New Zealand’s diverse communities.”

When the Premier Creative Places Award 2003 was won by the New Plymouth District Council for its flagship museum and library, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth Mayor Peter Tennent said: “Winning this supreme award is a huge day for Taranaki and all the people, the organisations and the thinkers that got involved in making the project happen.

“This project was all about partnership. It was the first time in Taranaki history that all eight iwi worked together for one common goal and, like most of the projects nominated for the Awards, it was driven by a demand from the local community.”

The Creative Places Awards 2004 are open to projects or initiatives that have been established and actively supported by the local authority. Entries are invited in five categories:

Arts Provision Built Environment Initiatives Celebrating Cultural Diversity Strategic Arts Initiatives Youth Arts Initiatives.

In each of these categories a prize is awarded to the outstanding entry from both a city council and a district council. An overall Premier Creative Places Award is chosen from the category winners.

“We’re keen to receive more entries, particularly from those district councils around the country that have inspiring creative projects,” Miss Kerr says. “At the last local government conference, a number of councils expressed great interest in the awards and we want to ensure they submit their entries this time around.”

Entries are assessed by an independent panel of judges, one of whom is a nominee of Local Government New Zealand. Together, they have extensive arts and local government experience. This year’s judges are artist Kate Wells, Maori cultural heritage specialist Gerard O’Regan.and Councillor Cynthia Bowers, Deputy Mayor Hastings District.

The winners will be announced at the Local Government New Zealand Conference, to be held in Auckland from 26 – 28 July 2004. The closing date for entries to the Creative Places Awards 2004 is 5pm, Friday 14 May 2003.

Brochures, which include the entry form, are being distributed by Local Government New Zealand and Creative New Zealand’s Auckland Office to all local authorities, community arts councils and community arts workers.

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