Ash Gibson: finding whānau and healing through art
“Art is a very healing thing. I feel like I’ve found my whānau at Vincents. I’ve lived in many places and never found anything like it. If it wasn’t here, I don’t know what I’d do. I know many others feel like that too.”
– Ash Gibson
In communities across Aotearoa, creative spaces are enriching people’s lives. These are organisations where people facing barriers to participation can find a sense of belonging and purpose through the arts.
On any given day Vincents Art Workshop is a hive of activity. Brushes clink in jars. Clay is being shaped at the back table. A gentle hum of conversation weaves through the space, grounded by the quiet rhythm of creative work.
At one of the tables, you are likely to encounter Ash Gibson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou). Arriving in Wellington in 2022, Ash says that discovering this creative space was life changing.
“Art is a very healing thing,” she says. “I feel like I’ve found my whānau at Vincents. I’ve lived in many places and never found anything like it. If it wasn’t here, I don’t know what I’d do. I know many others feel like that too.”
Stories like Ash’s don’t happen in isolation. They’re part of a national movement called the Creative Spaces Network, coordinated by Arts Access Aotearoa.
This Network connects 65 creative spaces across Aotearoa with each other, with funders and with opportunities to share knowledge, build resilience and increase impact.
Vincents Art Workshop is the oldest creative space in New Zealand and is celebrating its fortieth anniversary in 2025. Through the Network, its staff can access resources, advocacy, professional development and peer-to-peer learning.
For artists like Ash, that means confident and capable tutors, stronger programmes, and a space that continues to grow in reach and richness.
These creative spaces support and nurture more than 40,000 people. This work needs champions!
Every pencil, every dance step, every moment of mentorship and every exhibition depends on support from people who believe in the power of the arts and creativity to enrich and transform lives.
Creative spaces offer more than artistic opportunities. They offer hope, healing and connection.
Because sometimes, all it takes is a paintbrush, a welcoming space and someone to say, “You belong here.”
More stories of change
Mark Lang: “Doing arts and whakairo when I was inside changed my life. Now I’m reaping the benefits and sharing with my community.”
Rodney Bell: “I didn’t dream of dancing when I was young. Dance found me after I acquired my disability.“
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