Details Of Creative New Zealand’s First Phase Arts Sector Boost, Ahead Of 14 April Opening

Creative New Zealand’s Emergency Response Package reflects a changed landscape, delivers opportunities for new and refocused creative projects that work in that new landscape, and bolsters a sector knocked to its knees by the impact of COVID-19.

Announced on 24 March, Creative New Zealand can now provide more details about the initial $16 million investment, opening for applications from 14 April and to be distributed to the sector through to 30 June 2020 (the end of Creative New Zealand’s financial year). A second phase, which will provide support beyond June 2020, will be explored at the April Arts Council meeting.

Michael Moynahan, Chair of Creative New Zealand’s governing body, the Arts Council, says, “These are challenging times for all of us, and for the arts community in particular. We believe the support Creative New Zealand is providing will give the sector confidence that we understand their plight and are here to work alongside them.”

“We expect there to be a second phase of support, from 1 July, which we’ll be able to speak more about following further meetings of the Arts Council. It’s premature for us to discuss more than this first phase of our response at the moment, given the profound uncertainty we’re all experiencing,” Michael says.

Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright says, “Through the Emergency Relief Grant we have worked to closely align our support with the WINZ Wage Subsidy and our aims around paying artists and arts practitioners more fairly, in keeping with what we learnt from the sector through our Sustainable Careers research. Our current guidelines include pay rates of at least $25 per hour for artists and arts practitioners and so we are ‘topping up’ the amount of the WINZ payment to meet that threshold.”

“Given the rapidly changing circumstances, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and reassess the need and level of our emergency support.

“The design of our Emergency Response Package is well-progressed, including our ability to deliver it within current constraints and the rapidly changing environment. The different elements are shaping up and we look forward to opening the opportunities on 14 April,” Stephen says.

The first phase of Creative New Zealand’s Emergency Response Package has two components:

1. Resilience Grants for eligible artists, arts practitioners, arts groups and arts organisations (non-investment clients) to help them recover, maintain and develop their practice in a completely changed environment. There are two opportunities:

• Arts Continuity Grant – supports short-term arts projects by artists and arts organisations (including groups and collectives) that can be delivered within a changed and evolving environment as a result of COVID-19.
• Emergency Relief Grant – provides temporary relief for independent artists and arts practitioners, who may be part of arts organisations (including groups and collectives), and who meet our eligibility criteria.
   

2 . Short-term Relief for Investment Clients for existing investment clients and in addition to existing funding, with priority given to those materially negatively impacted by COVID-19, to help them stabilise their businesses and remain viable.

Further information about each of these opportunities is provided below.

Resilience Grants: Arts Continuity Grant (up to $50k) – key information:

· Short-term (ie, to be completed by 30 September 2020) arts projects (new or reframed), or the stage of a project, that can be delivered within a changed and evolving environment as a result of COVID-19.

· Supporting the creation and/or presentation of new work, research, creative and professional development, promotion and distribution.

· Project needs to achieve one of the following:

• Sustaining careers for artists, arts practitioners, arts groups and arts organisations.
• Development of arts practice.
• Innovation in New Zealand arts.
• Opportunities for diverse communities to access and participate in high-quality arts experiences.

· Excludes international travel and physical gathering/participation, and needs to comply with current government guidelines (alert levels) at the time of decision-making.

· To be applied for through Creative New Zealand’s funding portal, from 14 April until 1pm on 18 June 2020.

· Will be assessed externally in a shortened timeframe using a shortened streamlined version of Creative New Zealand’s usual assessment process.

· Applications will be through Creative New Zealand’s portal. Decisions will be made within three weeks from the application being submitted, and sooner if possible.

Resilience Grants: Emergency Relief Grant – key information:

· Contribution towards loss of income as a result of COVID-19 for eligible independent artists and arts practitioners, and members of arts organisations (including groups and collectives).

· Applicants will need to demonstrate:

• their main source of income is derived from arts practice (that is, supplying a relevant CV, in addition to information about recent creative projects or activity)
• they have lost income in the period 1 March to 30 June 2020
• they have received government support (COVID-19 WINZ Wage Subsidy)
• they meet Creative New Zealand’s eligibility criteria.

· Applications will be by email, with decisions made within five working days from the application being submitted.

Short-term Relief for Investment Clients – key information:

· Open to existing investment clients and in addition to existing funding, with priority given to those materially negatively impacted by COVID-19, to help them stabilise their businesses and remain viable.

· Funding will be prioritised towards addressing the immediate financial needs of organisations who can demonstrate they are not able to stabilise their organisation up to 30 June 2020 because they:

• are already materially negatively impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, and/or
• will be materially negatively impacted for the period 1 March to 30 June 2020, as a result of cancelled or deferred activities (including the impact of incurred costs without associated revenue).

· Investment clients are the 83 arts organisations currently receiving multi-year funding via the Toi Tōtara Haemata and Toi Uru Kahikatea investment programmes, employing between them many artists and arts practitioners (including technical specialists), and who may have had to cancel or defer programmes and carry the impact of incurred costs without the anticipated revenue.

· Investment clients applying for the Short-term Relief Grant are expected to have considered how their reserves can be used and must have already received support from the Government’s Economic Recovery Package (for example, the WINZ Wage Subsidy).

· Creative New Zealand will be in touch with these investment clients when applications open on 14 April. Clients are encouraged to talk to their lead Investment Services Adviser if they want to discuss the opportunity before then.

· Application assessment will take up to 20 working days, beginning as soon as the application is received (application will be by email). More details in the Frequently Asked Questions.

Creative New Zealand continues to work with the Government through the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage (the Ministry) to better understand how the Government’s Economic Recovery Package can help the sector, and to help the Government understand the impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector.

Together, the Arts Council and Creative New Zealand will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector, and what further investment the organisation can make to ensure the effectiveness of the Emergency Response Package going forward.

Applications to all the opportunities under Creative New Zealand’s Emergency Response Package open on 14 April and will be distributed to the sector through to 30 June 2020 (the end of Creative New Zealand’s financial year).

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