Summer Scholarships Aim To Help Arts Thrive
Tuesday 23 January 2018, 9:38AM
By Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology
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Bachelor of Creative Industries graduate, Lynette Fisher, and current student, Chontelle Hohaia, are the latest recipients of the Toi Ohomai Summer Research Scholarships.
The scholarship – which is a collaboration between Toi Ohomai and industry – will see them undertake practical research to help better understand and grow the arts sector in the Bay of Plenty region.
Lynette Fisher’s research project is to create an online toolkit for The People’s Gallery – a community art gallery run by The Incubator and located at the Historic Village which is quickly becoming Tauranga’s arts hub.
Fellow scholarship recipient Chontelle Hohaia is helping Creative Bay of Plenty research and catalogue what cultural arts we have in the region.
Toi Ohomai Programme Manager (Art and Design) and senior academic staff member, Nicol Sanders-O’Shea, says each scholarship is designed in partnership with industry to create a project that has a specific focus and a need.
“Working with industry provides excellent opportunities for our students to build relationships and become part of a community of practice in our field,” she says.
Lynette says she really excited about working with The Incubator and The People’s Gallery.
“I want to inspire people to create art and one day I’d love to have my own working studio where I can paint so I hope this experience will help me achieve these goals and also make it easier for other artists to exhibit their art,” says Lynette.
Lynette has immersed herself into life at the Historic Village where she is surveying local artists and gallery volunteers to identify what is needed for the toolkit.
Once she has completed this initial research, Lyn will start building a toolkit with information for artists who wish to exhibit their work at the gallery and also for volunteers working at the gallery. It will include information such as how to prepare artwork for an exhibition, how to hang pictures, how to clean walls correctly between exhibitions and how to write an artists’ statement.
Like Lynette, Chontelle is currently immersed in the research phase of her scholarship. When she completes her research in February, Chontelle will write a report on her findings which may contribute towards Creative Bay of Plenty’s arts and cultural strategy.
“This project is helping me learn about and better understand our cultural environment which is beneficial to me as a person, a mother and a student,” says Chontelle, who has just completed her second year of a Bachelor of Creative Industries, majoring in graphic design.
“I love studying at Toi Ohomai. My tutors are all really supportive and have awesome industry experience which is inspiring.”
Learn more about studying the Bachelor of Creative Industries with Toi Ohomai.
The Incubator and The People’s Gallery
The Incubator was founded in 2013 to grow and connect our local creative community. It runs workshops and fosters social connections through creative outputs. It opened the People’s Gallery in late 2017. Find out more about The Incubator.
Creative Bay of Plenty
Creative Bay of Plenty aims to create an environment where arts and culture thrive. It wants to be the ‘go-to’ organisation for anything to do with arts and culture – advice, information and advocacy for the arts and culture sector. Find out more about Creative Bay of Plenty.