Is The Future Of The Creative Sector At Risk In Waikato?

According to recent media reports, the School of Media Arts at Wintec is facing the potential of cuts to a number of its programmes. While times are tough for vocational education across the board, we need to ensure that there is a clear vision for the role our education providers play in the region, and in the local community. The tertiary and vocational education sector supports productivity and innovation, and there is a longstanding question of the central government’s role in funding the tertiary and vocational education sector.

Change is being proposed for Wintec’s Arts programmes - particularly in performing arts and communications - and this change seems for the worse in our communities.

According to regional news articles, it is understood that these programmes are some of a number currently being reviewed as part of a process to get Wintec out of deficit. It seems this deficit has been caused by a range of factors including the national disestablishment of Te Pūkenga, and systemic underfunding by the government for the tertiary education sector for years. The flow on eect of these changes will have a lasting impact on our local communities.

The cuts to programmes like the Music and Performing Arts programme will severely damage the growth and development that had been happening locally in alignment with the Waikato Regional Theatre and the Waikato Performing Arts Strategy. We have seen directly how sta, students and graduates of these programmes contribute to local events and venues including The Meteor,Clarence Street, Hamilton Arts Festival, Fringe Festival, Hamilton Operatic, Nivara Lounge, Last Place, and a significant part of the live music scene for a number of years.

There has been a problematic trend of arts programmes being on the chopping block at universities around the country.

This seems to lack a vision for what skill-sets graduates will need in the future. Many leaders in sectors from business, to law, to healthcare, manufacturing and tech have expressed a desire for graduates who can think creatively and communicate eectively. Performing Arts is a great pathway for those skills. Graduates developing these important soft skills will have impacts on recruitment across all sectors, national GDP development, and opportunities for regional economic development.

Arts graduates can be found everywhere. They can find a pathway as entertainers, artists, and storytellers, but you might also find them in business, law, education, media, local government, and NGOs. Arts students become experts in collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, communication - transferable skills required to navigate the ever changing nature of work in our society.

Ultimately, these programmes, like so many other programmes, are being examined because of a lack of government investment in tertiary education. If Wintec is unable to secure funds, then costs (programmes and people) need to be reduced. This becomes a blunt numbers game, rather than examining the true value and benefit of these programmes in our region.

Some programmes require more kanohi ki te kanohi learning. Some programmes require dierent spaces and specialist equipment. Some programmes don’t thrive in simple ‘bums-on-seats’ calculations. The cost-benefit analysis should also examine the impact on local communities, contributions to ecosystem development, supporting regional identity and connection, local liveability, and in-kind support provided to local organisations through the time and energy of the passionate people who are part of these programmes.

While these proposed cuts have already caused concern for sta as they navigate what these changes might mean, and concern for prospective students looking to study these programmes locally without needing to leave their local communities, the impact of these changes reach much further than that.

The proposed cuts will flow on to local theatres, venues, arts organisations and the new Waikato Regional Theatre, as they will lose the contributions made by sta, students and graduates of the programme. There is no other tertiary oering for popular music, musical theatre, and audio production in our region.

There is also concern for local businesses, media, and people looking to work with comms professionals as storytelling becomes more and more essential components of ongoing success.

The potential impact extends to Hamilton City Council and organisations with an interest in the Waikato Performing Arts Strategy, as these programmes contribute to the vision where the Waikato Performing Arts ecosystem thrives through inspiring communities and enabling diverse creative activity which includes strong creative pathways and community engagement.

At a national level, the proposed cuts should concern Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith, as they are out of alignment with the newly released “AMPLIFY” Arts and culture strategy.

The proposed cuts will negatively impact the contribution from the Waikato in this vision for future impact.

We want to be a region that thrives with diverse and transformative creative activity, and that means having a range of oerings in our local tertiary education providers that support meaningful creative pathways for our people.

About Creative Waikato

Creative Waikato is a not-for-profit organisation who are creativity experts that are dedicated to enhancing the arts, culture and creative ecosystem in Waikato. We aim to foster a thriving, diverse creative community through capability building and collaboration. Our role includes guiding and supporting local creative initiatives to promote cultural wellbeing and positive change in the region.

© Scoop Media