Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni, will officially open a community space designed to provide social connection through art and creativity, in Tauranga, on Wednesday 9 August.
The Incubator Creative Hub, who has been operating out of The Historic Village for nearly 10 years, jumped at an opportunity to repurpose a building into a campus offering workshops, artistic demonstrations and events to a creativity-hungry Tauranga audience. Purchase of the building was made possible with the help of a Lotteries Communities Facility Grant in 2023.
Sepuloni, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, will be able to see the campus in action with multiple groups such as a Pacific tavaevae quilting group, a multicultural ethnic sewing group, a Ngāti Ranginui rangatahi workshop, and a community pottery group all utilising the campus spaces during her visit.
Labour list MP Angie Warren-Clark, who has been a long time supporter of The Incubator said “It is important to support and validate the grassroots creative sector and to celebrate achievements such as the opening of this facility which will have a huge impact on local Tauranga communities and wellness. Investment in arts, culture and creativity is essential for positive impact on well being, social cohesion, and education as well as the economy. The arts are not a luxury but significant in contributing to a vibrant and inclusive community.”
The Incubator Director, Simone Anderson said the multi-room, indoor-outdoor campus began trial operations late last year, and since then demand and use has grown steadily grown. “Thanks to the new campus space, we can now offer a wider variety of creative workshops and to more people”.
“We know the demand for creative workshops and demonstrations, workshops, events and displays in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty, so were grateful to be able to purchase this building when it became available last year,” she said.
The addition of the new Creative Campus was the logical next step for The Incubator Creative Hub that is the umbrella for multiple galleries, a music venue, a cinema, a pottery hub, artist studios, a photography studio, fashion outlets and whakairo all based at The Historic Village.
“Understanding the importance of arts and creative outlets for all people – including the roles that creativity, the arts and the artists themselves play in creating a healthy society and helping to transform social wellbeing by providing extraordinary experiences is at the heart of The Incubator Creative Hub,” Anderson said.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer a safe space to serve the need for social connection, self-improvement, opportunities for rangatahi, tamariki, creatives and the retired community and to bring together people of all ages and ethnicities.”
