21 Mar 2011
Creative New Zealand has provided grants in advance totaling $506,403 to four Christchurch-based arts organisations affected by the recent Canterbury earthquake and broadened the scope of its emergency response fund.
Arts on Tour, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, The Court Theatre and The Physics Room are all recurrently funded organisations (RFOs) and have received grants covering the period from April to June this year in one lump sum.
Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright said the advanced grants would help ease concerns about short-term cash flow so staff could focus on assessing the impact of the earthquake and plan for the future.
“We appreciate that this is an incredibility difficult and stressful time for artists and arts organisations. In our discussions about the impact of the earthquake we agreed that this would give them the space to develop a sustainable way forward in the new environment they are facing,” he said.
“The key issue facing our clients is not just financial stability but the continuity of their business in an unknown environment.”
Creative New Zealand has developed guidelines to support a wider range of funded projects by individual artists and arts practitioners through its existing emergency response fund. For example, an artist who has received a Creative New Zealand grant to produce a work, which is now damaged, may be assisted to relocate the work or to purchase new materials so it can be completed.
The new approach has three phases:
- Up to June 2011: Focus on enabling artists, arts practitioners and arts organisations to achieve stability so they can plan activity for the second half of the year
- July to December 2011: Support the above to deliver a revised programme through to the end of year. It is recognised the level of activity may be significantly reduced as they contend with the post-earthquake environment
- January to December 2012: Support the above to resume a greater level of activity as they adapt to working in the new environment
Throughout this period Creative New Zealand will continue to work with the arts community and other support agencies to ensure this approach is meeting their needs.
The grants in advance were as follows:
|
Arts Organisation |
Amount |
|
Arts on Tour New Zealand |
$54,250.02 |
|
Christchurch Symphony Orchestra |
$187,500.00 |
|
The Court Theatre |
$223,000.00 |
|
The Physics Room |
$41,679.99 |
|
TOTAL |
$506,403.01 |
Notes to Editors
RFOs are professional arts organisations that receive one, two or three-year funding contracts from Creative New Zealand with payments made on a monthly or quarterly basis.
For more information please contact:
Helen Isbister
Communications Manager
Creative New Zealand
04 473 0187
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