Whakahoa Kaitoi Whanaketanga Creative New Zealand Artist Fellowship 2025

This fellowship supports a Deaf or disabled artist, turi Māori or tāngata whaikaha Māori artist, or an artist who has a disability, impairment or lived experience of mental distress to undertake a project that develops their creative practice.

It is open to artists exploring artforms that include but are not limited to dance, film, creative writing, music, theatre, ngā toi Māori, Pacific arts, visual arts, ceramics and sculpture.

The recipient of the fellowship receives $10,000. It is sponsored by Creative New Zealand.

The deadline for applications is 5pm Monday 31 March 2025. All applicants will be notified about the outcome of their application by early April 2025.

Arts Access Aotearoa embraces the diverse ways that the experiences of Deaf and disabled people; turi Māori and tāngata whaikaha Māori; people with disabilities and impairments; and people with lived experience of mental distress shape their creative practice.

Please don’t hesitate to include anything you would like to share about what this means for you: for example, writing from bed.

Note: there is no requirement or expectation that your art or project relates to themes of disability.

Getting support

We know there are many barriers that make applying for opportunities difficult. If you need support in applying, we will assist you in finding this.

Paying for access costs

An additional $5000 can be provided to support access costs required by you to create, produce and share your work. This could be for NZ Sign Language interpretation, support workers or accessible travel options, for example.

You do not need to share how you will use the access costs top up in your budget.

The aims for this Fellowship are:

• to offer an opportunity specifically for a Deaf or disabled artist, turi Māori or tāngata whaikaha Māori artist, or an artist who has a disability or impairment, or lived experience of mental distress 
• to support an artist to explore, create, and develop fresh ideas and approaches in their creative practice through a specific project
• to support the growth of an artist, their career, creativity and professional development 
• to discover and connect with Deaf or disabled artists and share their arts practice.

We want this to be a mana-enhancing experience. Anything you share with us will be kept private. There will be an opportunity to request feedback after the assessment process.

We imagine your project will take around 200 hours to complete within a nine-month period.

You may choose to work with a mentor as part of your project.

Is it for me?

Eligibility criteria

You must be:

• a practising artist. You can be self-taught or formally trained
• an artist who: 
  • is Deaf or disabled
  • is turi Māori
  • is tāngata whaikaha Māori
  • has an impairment
  • has lived experience of mental distress
• at least 18 years of age
• a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.

You cannot have been a previous recipient of an Art Access Aotearoa Fellowship.

The Fellowship money CANNOT be used for:

•  any academic course of study
• any competition or fundraising
• previous expenses.

It CAN be used for:

• salaries and fees
• materials
• reasonable travel required for the project.

The decision-making process

All complete applications that are eligible will be assessed. A shortlist will be made by Arts Access Aotearoa staff. An external panel will review the shortlist. Applications will be assessed against criteria which we can share with you. The panel will be made up of Deaf and/or disabled artists and art sector professionals.

Assessment criteria

The panel will consider the following information from your application when making their decision:

• The project – What is your idea?
• Creative practice – What is your arts practice and what evidence have you included?
• Process – How will you complete the project?
• Opportunities – How will the fellowship support you to grow as an artist?

How to apply

Step 1: Check your dates

• The deadline for applications is until 5pm Monday 31 March 2025.
• All applicants will be notified about the outcome of their application by early April 2025.

Note: The project needs to start within two months of acceptance of the Fellowship and must be completed within nine months of the starting date. The Fellowship will begin in April/May and be completed by November/December.

Step 2: Consider the requirements of the application

Read the FAQs before you start.

Here are some prompts to help you prepare your answers:

The project

• Tell us about you project idea.
• Why do you want to do this project?
• Will anyone else be involved? How?

Creative practice

• Tell us about yourself as an artist?
• What experience do you have relevant to your project?
• How will you know you know the project is going well?

The process

• How will this project be achieved? Describe the process.
• Provide a timeline of the project
• Provide a budget for the project.

Opportunities

• Are there any barriers this Fellowship will help remove?
• How do you expect to grow as an artist through this project?
• What do want to have achieved or be able to do at the end of the Fellowship?

Step 3: Complete your application form

We welcome applications in accessible formats: for example, NZSL or audio/visual files.

Our application form is also a Word document, which you can fill in online and email to us.

Step 4: Gather support material

Do not send physical copies of support material or artwork.

Support material can be emailed (no more than 5MB per email).

Larger files (up to 100MB) can be sent via WeTransfer or Dropbox.

As part of your application, you will need to include:

• an application form
• a budget showing how the $10,000 will be spent. You do not need to show how you would use the $5000 access top-up.
• a timeline
• CV of 1-2 pages describing your skills and experience
• examples of your work. No more than 3 examples.
• up to of two letters of support. These need to be recent, specific to the application, and include the writer’s contact details.
• Step 5: Send application and support material

Download your application form  (Word)

Please email your application to fellowships@artsaccess.org.nz or send your video or audio files via WeTransfer or Dropbox.

Please contact Arts Access Aotearoa staff if you have any questions (E: fellowships@artsaccess.org.nz T: 04 802 4191).