Creative spaces reduce strain on social services ‒ report

Thursday, 27 February 2025

Advocates are calling for a more sustainable funding model for cash-strapped creative spaces, after a new report found that increased investment reduces the strain on other critical social services.

Creative spaces are community arts organisations that help vulnerable groups engage for free or at a low cost with artistic activities.

Participants include those with a learning, physical or neurological impairment, people with mental distress, vulnerable youth or senior citizens, or people experiencing poverty or social/cultural isolation.

The artistic activity is facilitated by skilled staff and volunteers from the arts, health, therapy and education sectors at about 100 locations nationally.

Research has found creative spaces help improve the health, wellbeing and skills of the people who engage with them.

But the spaces have been chronically underfunded. However, this changed when the Ministry for Culture and Heritage allocated a one-off, $18 million grant from its Covid-19 recovery funding that it doled out in 2020, to support their growth and sustainability.

Now, a new report has found that $18m helped boost attendance rates at creative spaces from an estimated 11,000 people to an estimated 40,000 people.

Spaces were able to employ more people, support career pathways and provide professional development for their staff and volunteers, the report found.

Strategic partnerships were formed and deeper connections with their communities were made.

Creative spaces were also able to improve and expand their services to new population groups, and more adequately accommodate demand. This, in turn, reduced strain on other social services.

With the $18m funding coming to an end in late 2024, Arts Access Aotearoa, the charity which helps co-ordinate the national network of creative spaces, is now putting a call out to providers and other relevant organisations to ensure the spaces can continue operating amid rising unemployment.

Jacqui Moyes, the creative director of Wellington-based creative space Home Ground ‒ which uses the arts to support women in the justice system ‒ said creative spaces make participants feel like they belong in communities.

“[This] is essential to keeping people out of prison. Annually it costs around $150,000 for one woman to be in prison so obviously, there’s an economic as well as a social benefit,” Moyes said.

Home Ground has conducted workshops in the Wellington community, Arohata Women’s Prison, and Christchurch Women’s Prison with more than 200 women and has collaborated with more than 40 artists.

One of the participants of a Home Ground workshop said: “Since the concert, the vibe in the wings has changed. It was humanising for all the women. It included them in the process.”

Richard Benge, executive director of Arts Access Aotearoa, said now was the time to advocate for stable, ongoing financial investment for creative spaces.

“Happier, connected people mean people making positive contributions to our society and fewer people in the health system. If the Government wants to see a healthier, more resilient society, then it’s a no-brainer to provide sustainable funding to these community arts organisations,” he said.

A creative space could plan ahead with long-term, secure funding, Benge said.

“Let’s take down the barriers so everyone can access and participate in the arts. Imagine a nation where all people can embrace their creativity and are secure in their cultural identity … We will continue to support and advocate for them as they transition from the end of the multi-year investment to seeking sustainable funding alternatives.”

The report was authored by Arts Access Aotearoa and was compiled using data gathered over a three-year period.