Vision
Shona Hammond Boys, members of the NZ Children's Art House Foundation, international organizations, co-ordinators, parents and children have had a vision for the future of young people in Aotearoa for over 30 years.
To provide collaborative art-making experiences to our participants in vulnerable communities, strengthening mental health, social inclusion and livelihoods.
Children's Art Houses & Artolution programming is led by inspiring local Teaching Artists.
The Art Solution
must be established and reach every child in Aotearoa
Proposed Aotearoa Children's Arts Council
That the children of Aotearoa will have access to explore their individual art experience in the community as a contributing creator in cultural and artistic practices.
Resources and facilities for children's arts are made a priority.
That children are provided with consistent, long-term funding and strategic support to ensure that they have full and equal access to the arts within their communities.
Governments and local authorities adopt consistent long-term policies and make financial provision to support those policies, for arts outside school.
That children's work has equal status to that of adults.
Art councils and arts bodies provide wide support and respect of children's artistic aspirations and achievements.
The Aotearoa Children's Arts Council becomes highly valued in its own right as a future-change agent for New Zealand.
Waikato Regional Arts Centre
We worked closely with the architects who spent $100,000 on the redesign of the Founders Theatre in Hamilton to enable it to be used for young people as well as community groups with the generous support of benefactors for the $10m remodel.
It was designed to have a
500 seat auditorium for performances and an outdoor stage
4 floors for Arts clubs, ie music, performance, visual arts, other after school art clubs
Cafe and Shop for fundraising
Exhibitions of local, national and international young peoples arts
Regional and national youth artists workshops and holiday programes ie WETA Workshops, band, drama workshops etc
An outdoor Children's Art Park designed and created by our young people
Unfortunately, upon submitting this plan, Councilors and staff refused to spend the time to sit down and discuss this proposal and the building has since been destroyed.
The vision for such a magnificent support place for our young people continues.
Youth need to speak, be represented, supported in their dreams and have their talents celebrated. They are far in advance of us.
Our sincere thanks to our sponsors
