In an exciting new development for the arts and culture sector, a new framework will be developed which could see around $3 million invested into public art in Tauranga each year.
Tauranga City Council has approved in principle the establishment of a framework to support the development of new public art initiatives for the city. Previously there is no dedicated budget for public art and the public art policy achieved little in the way of new projects.
Council’s arts and culture manager, James Wilson says “It’s clear that our current approach to public art is not serving us well as a city. The proposed public art framework seeks to make a bold change in the way in which we engage with public art.”
The framework will enable the development of an ambitious programme of public art, which will tell the stories of Tauranga, celebrate artists and give the community access to high-quality art experiences. It will also support the expression of Māori whakapapa and history throughout the city through public art.
The proposed public art fund will comprise 1% of capital budgets for above-ground council-led projects, resulting in around $3 million being available for investment in the 2023-24 financial year. The framework will also support the development of guidelines and a toolkit for people wanting to create public art, as well as the establishment of a public art panel to provide guidance on opportunities and investments.
Creative Bay of Plenty would like to congratulate Tauranga City Council for taking this bold and transformational approach to the development of arts and culture in our city, and particularly commend the work that James Wilson and Sonya Korohina of Supercut Projects have done to get us to this stage. We are very excited about the future of public art in our city and the opportunities this will provide for the arts sector and wider community.
Midnight Sun – Sara Hughes & Supercut Projects (Photo: Jess Lowcher)
