Let the crowdfunding begin, and other arts news

Now that the results from the AOG tiers 3 and 4 fund are somewhat digested, the organisations that did not receive what they needed are in the throes of figuring out what to do next. There’s been a sweep of redundancies as organisations look to tighten their operations, but how many overheads can realistically be cut? There doesn’t tend to be many fancy offices or company cars or discretionary spending in the arts, and plenty of us are already working frankenstein jobs which in other sectors might be considered three different roles. There’s no more space in which to puncture belt holes. For many, especially those who were offered nothing or close to it, tightening isn’t enough for the organisation to survive. 

Underneath all of the discussions happening, there is one simple, hard question. Genista Jurgens put it clearly in the Global Compass this month: Are commercial backing, philanthropy, and grassroots crowdfunding our only avenues left when public support is lacking? 

This is the question that Jessica Hansell has been asking through her ongoing series Culture Work, a conversation she has been hosting for a few weeks. She was looking for options for the artist-run space Wheke Fortress in Onehunga, but this week she told her newsletter subscribers that “after all that discourse, hui, community kōrero and meet ups with funders we figured…. we still gotta do a good old-fashioned crowdfunder”. Wheke needs money imminently to continue, and so the Boosted will go live on Monday.

This is one of a wave of crowdfunding campaigns. Tempo Dance Festival was unsuccessful in its AOG application and is running a Boosted campaign to raise $30,000. They’ve secured seed and matched funding, so what they’re asking from their community is $15,000. Little Andromeda theatre were also unsuccessful in their application and are running a fundraiser, with tickets on a sliding scale from $50 – $500. On Wednesday afternoon, there were only 17 tickets left. Touch Compass was successful, but could do with more money. The organisation says that for each opportunity it has created in the past three years, there have been up to six young disabled persons keen to experience it. They are starting a monthly giving community on Raisely. 

And so it seems once again the arts community is going to bail out the arts community off the back of systemic funding failure.

But what about the effect this has on organisations? Not every fundraiser will be successful, and apart from that it's not nice to always be having to ask people for money. It's time-consuming, stressful, and takes focus away from the artistic aims at heart. It can also rob dignity. Apart from that, it's unpredictable – who is to know how popular you might be, or how rich your fans? Ongoing membership models can flatten out what might otherwise might be a one-off cash injection, but those require ongoing care and maintenance. 

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and turning to our own communities for support is essential right now as one of the few options left. I think we are going to see more and more of it in the coming months.

There’s a lot of nice sentiments to be said about successful crowdfunding. Collectivity, solidarity, community, people power, etc. But how much money do people have to give? How many will keep opening their wallets over and over again as more and more organisations turn to crowdfunding? How many will keep listening if it becomes a chorus of need? On top of that, there’s the fact that some communities have more resources than others, and so it presents a problem of inequity. Will only art appreciated by the privileged survive?

There is one longstanding nationwide crowdfunding campaign which has been extremely successful. It’s near impossible to opt out, and it gathers money from far and wide for the public good. Its revenue neared $200 billion this year, and its existence is mostly unquestioned. Too bad the arts receive less than 0.2% of tax-funded government expenditure.

NZ Glassworks turns 10

New Zealand's national centre for contemporary glass, based in Whanganui, began with fierce community determination, opening its doors in August 2016. The facility continues a rich history of glass practice in Whanganui, and is an essential part of the UNESCO City of Design designation. It is the only open-access glass studio in the country where guests can watch artists at work in the hotshop, and try their hand at glassblowing through workshops. NZG also hosts the only glass-specific artist residency in the country. 

The anniversary is being celebrated with a month-long exhibition, Lucent: A Shared Decade, showcasing the works of 10 contemporary glass artists who have shaped NZG. There’s also a masterclass for adults and a kids design competition. “This anniversary is about recognising the community who have built the glassworks into what it is today,” says manager Madeline Prowd.

Artists move into empty shops on K’ Road

Those peeved by all the empty storefronts and endless for lease signage will be pleased about a new residency programme run by the Karangahape Road Business Association and Artspace Aotearoa. Five local artists – Moat, Mirror Spectrum Journal Division, Haumi e Studios, Nayesha Waiti-Mulholland and Olivia McGregor – are taking over empty shops with the proviso that the public will have opportunities to see what they are creating in there. Three are located in Ironbank, and two are across the road in the former Smoove and Thrift Away shops. Tonight at First Thursdays, all five spaces will open to the public for the first time. The residencies are possible thanks to the landlords and property owners.

German court rules against SUNO A.I for using copyrighted music

GEMA, the German performing rights society with 100,000 members, filed a lawsuit against SUNO at the Munich Regional Court to enforce its members' rights to compensation for the use of their works in January 2025. Last Friday the court ruled that by training its AI-generated software with songs from GEMA members in the US, as well as by storing and playing these songs in Europe, SUNO infringed American and German copyright law. This is being hailed as a “landmark” victory for musicians, especially as it crosses national borders. The court said that SUNO is subject to a licensing requirement for the systematic use of these songs. 

APRA AMCOS has applauded the ruling, with CEO Dean Ormston saying, “Munich has called it what it is. Not innovation. Theft. The Australian Prime Minister said the same thing at the University of Sydney: no company should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist's control. Anything less, is theft.” One hopes that it will mount, and win, a similar case that includes the thousands of NZ songs used in AI training datasets. 

Folly shares detailed reasons why most submissions don’t make it into their journal

Until two days ago Folly Journal was accepting submissions for a themed edition called Divorce Diet. On Instagram, they say that while they read each of the hundreds of pieces that came in, most won’t be included in the publication. They couldn’t always provide a personalised rejection email, so instead have rounded up the most common reasons why pieces didn’t make it in. I’m sure most of us have been on the other side of the process, so it's an interesting read, as sobering as it is comforting. 

Webb’s art auction breaks multiple records

Last week a single-owner collection of significant modern and contemporary art realised $3.1 million at a Webb’s auction. A big chunk of that came from the sale of Bill Hammond's Zoomorphic Lounge III, which sold for $1,613,250, the second-highest price ever achieved for a Hammond at auction. Records were set for three other artists – Peter Robinson's searching Boy Am I Scarred Eh! achieved $155,350, Jacqueline Fraser's Korareako, 1996, St Lucia realised $38,837, and Hiria Anderson-Mita set a new benchmark across a group of four works. It seems then that not eeevvvveryone in the arts is struggling to make ends meet. 

Andy Leleisi’uao selected as the William Hodges Fellowship Artist

The fellowship, run by Southland Art Foundation, brings significant visual artists from throughout New Zealand to the heart of Southland, and has been doing so for 30 years. Andy Leleisi’uao will spend three months from September in Invercargill and the wider Murihiku area. Andy’s work reflects his experience as a New Zealand-born Samoan whose family migrated from one part of the Pacific to another. His practice explores themes of cultural identity, societal and diasporic issues using cryptic figures in alternative settings.

Will Crummer receives the Ministry for Pacific Peoples Lifetime Achievement Award

The pioneering Cook Islands musician is best known as the frontman of the Royal Rarotongans. Will became a fixture of Auckland’s Polynesian music scene in the 1960s, recording a series of albums for the Viking label that preserved the language, melodies, and sound of his native Rarotonga. After stepping away from professional music to raise his family, Will returned decades later with a shoebox of handwritten Rarotongan songs he had carried with him since leaving the Cook Islands. He will be presented with the award at the Pacific Music Awards on 12 August at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau, and perform as part of the ceremony.

Areez Katki awarded the 2026 Gasworks residency

Areez Katki will travel to London in October as the tenth New Zealand artist to undertake a residency at Gasworks. The three-month residency offers an early / mid-career artist the opportunity for self-led professional development, experimentation, artistic exchange and development of international networks. It can be significant for the advancement of their career. Areez currently lives and works between Berlin, Auckland, and Mumbai. During their residency, Areez will continue the research and development for a new performance and moving-image work.

Matariki Williams analyses of CNZ’s unwieldy strategy for ngā toi Māori, Toi Ora, and the path to its inception. 

This month’s Global Compass by Genista Jurgens is all about public funding drying up across the globe, resilient independent infrastructure, and collects up a bunch of overseas opportunities you don't want to miss.

In this week’s Shameless Plug, Charlie Underhill shares her love of Double Downs and oddball stoner girls.

Come back tomorrow for an important story about national arts funding and the invisibility of the South Island!

I’ve received feedback that we simply don’t have enough coverage of the arts in the South Island – and I agree! If you’re a writer in the south, or know about something that could make for an interesting story, please get in touch!

I’m here to serve you dear reader, so don’t shy away from telling me how I could do that better! editor@thebigidea.co.nz