Car parks to art parks: Committee backs arts projects

Actions to support and streamline city arts and events projects were endorsed today by Christchurch City Council’s Community, Recreation and Culture Committee.

The Committee’s recommendations will go to the full Council meeting on 25 October for final adoption.

ArtBox
Funding of $30,000 to support a project for artists displaced by the earthquakes in the Central City was endorsed by the Committee at today's meeting.

The ArtBox project involves a series of mobile, modular, steel-framed structures which provide flexible studio, retail and exhibition spaces, planned for the corner of St Asaph and Madras streets. Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) and F3 Design are behind the project. CPIT has raised $525,000 for capital costs, including $80,000 from the Mayoral Relief Fund.

The Committee today agreed to recommend the Council fund $30,000 to cover a shortfall in operating expenses, so that CPIT can keep costs down for artists using ArtBox.

Committee Chair Yani Johanson says this is just the kind of project the Council ought to be supporting. “The ArtBox is a fantastic concept and worthy of support. It is a project that turns an inner city site currently used as a car park into an art park. I believe the creative sector has a vital role to play in returning economic, social, and cultural activity to the city centre. By working together with CPIT, the Council gains a lot from a small grant to ensure there are affordable spaces available for local creativity to flourish.”

Geo-Domes in Hagley ParkThe Committee recommended the Christchurch Events Village Geo-Domes in Hagley Park remain in place as an events venue until the end of June next year.

Cr Johanson says, “The domes have been a great success for hosting events on the site. These recommendations, if approved by Council, will now enable events next year such as World Buskers Festival, Summertimes, Ellerslie International Flower Show, New Zealand Jazz And Blues Festival and Speights Coast to Coast to be held in the same location and maximise the use of the domes.”

The domes have proved popular with the community, with more than 40 events held this year alone and an estimated 800,000 individual visits since the Christchurch Events Village opened in May 2011.

Funding for transitional and creative projects
The Committee also recommended a swifter process for approving grants under two new grant funds: the Creative Industries Support Fund and the Transitional City Projects Fund. The aim of both funds is to encourage earthquake recovery projects by being more responsive: in the case of the Creative Industries Support Fund by providing support to the arts sector in the Central City; and for the Transitional City Projects Fund by encouraging the temporary use of privately owned vacant spaces in the central city.

If approved, the shift would see staff able to approve requests under $15,000 and the Committee given delegated authority to approve requests over $15,000 on behalf of the full Council.

Cr Yani Johanson says the Committee feels it is important to reduce the time taken to deal with the grants. As such, it is asking the Council to give the Committee direct delegation as opposed to waiting for the full Council to make a call. "This is part of enabling things to happen in a timely fashion, so if there is a good project, we can act quickly and respond rather than waiting for ages for resolution."

After this has gone before the full Council, public applications will be called for and more information will be available for interested groups and individuals.