Advocacy and Profiling

Arts Access Aotearoa is the national voice for marginalised artists and communities, and a catalyst in promoting artistic opportunities for them. This programme advocates for and profiles the individuals and communities with whom we work. It also promotes their artistic work and the role they play within a culturally diverse society.

This programme helps us achieve three of our strategic goals:

• Increasing awareness in the wider community of the sectors we work with and their needs
• Facilitating opportunities for marginalised artists to promote their work and generate an income from it
• Building and maintaining strategic partnerships to make best use of Arts Access Aotearoa’s resources. 

Big ‘A’ Awards

Our key advocacy and profiling event is the annual Big ‘A’ Awards. These are the only awards in New Zealand celebrating the outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations working to enhance the artistic lives of people who have been marginalised by the mainstream. They also recognise a talented young artist who faces barriers in pursuing his/her artistic career.

The Big ‘A’ Awards 2011 were hosted by Parliament and the Hon. Christopher Finlayson, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, in the Banquet Hall of Parliament. More than 200 guests attended his year's awards ceremony where five awards were presented, including the inaugural Big 'A' Creative New Zealand Arts For All Award. The recipients are:

• Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland and the Department of Corrections, awarded the Big ‘A’ Community Partnership Award 2011
• King Street Artworks, Masterton, awarded the Big ‘A’ Creative Space Award 2011
• Makuei Aken, Upper Hutt, awarded the Big ‘A’ Winton and Margaret Bear Young Artist Award 2011
• Sharon Hall, The Learning Connexion, Hutt Valley, awarded the Big ‘A’ Prison Arts Leadership Award 2011
• Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, awarded the Big ‘A’ Creative New Zealand Arts for All Award 2011.

 Read more about the  Big ‘A’ Awards 2011 here.

Telling stories and increasing awareness

The individuals and communities we work with often have great stories to tell. Our role is to ensure that some of these stories are heard. This increases public awareness of the contribution that our key stakeholders make in enriching our lives.

We promote these stories, using various tools: for instance, the media, our website, our monthly e-news, Facebook and Twitter. We also have a profile on The Big Idea.

Email us if you would like to receive our monthly e-news.

Here are some recent examples of stories we have written and promoted to the media.

• Young Jolt dancers to perform in Dunedin, 22 August 2011
• Dudley Arthouse features in IHC Art Awards, 9 August 2011
• New book about refugee life, 13 June 2011