Future Animators at Manurewa High School

Running from 2013 to 2018, Future Animators was an initiative that supported secondary school students at Manurewa High School working in 3D animation. The project provided a unique opportunity for students to share the development of their skills and learn what it means to display their work in a public gallery.

Throughout the year, students researched, developed and refined a short digital animation for exhibition at Te Tuhi. Te Tuhi provided support for students through workshops and feedback sessions. By combining practical skills and professional guidance, Future Animators enabled students to test their ideas in a supportive environment and explore pathways into the arts and creative fields.

Five Days in the Art World

Run for three years from 2016 to 2018, Five Days in the Art World catered to secondary art students in their final year at school. The programme aimed to support young people interested in pursuing a career in an art-based industry, helping them to understand and experience a range of arts-related professional possibilities.

Students from across Auckland applied to be included in this five-day experience during the school holidays. The programme included visits to art schools, galleries, art organisations, zine collectives, art publishers and artist’s studios. Students learnt about artist residency programmes and award opportunities and met practising artists and creative professionals who provided practical advice and insider knowledge to guide students as they considered future study and careers in the arts.

Te Tuhi Youth Art Award

Starting as the Manukau Youth Art Awards this programme ran from 2009 to 2015 and has taken a variety of formats over the years. Its original aim was to help prepare potential university art and design students for what lay ahead, with young people from across Auckland schools applying for the prize. It evolved over the years from a month-long billboard exhibition on a busy motorway for one successful applicant, to include an art school ‘boot camp’ to help students prepare their school portfolios, as well as an exhibition of work within Te Tuhi, and intensive university-level art studio workshops. In 2016 the Award was developed into the programme Five Days in the Art World.

Career Paths in the Creative Industries

In 2016 Te Tuhi ran a series of free talks to explore what thinking, making, studying and working in the art world is like. Audiences had the opportunity to glimpse different workplaces and career paths that exist in the creative industries, from working individually or collectively, commercially or community based, digitally or technically. The speakers included:

Artists – Louisa Afoa, Edith Amituanai, Molawin Evangelista, Amiria Puia-Taylor
Industry Professionals – Kalee Jackson, Andrew Kennedy, Brad Knewstubb, Sarah Walker-Holt
Collectives – Connect the Dots, D.A.N.C.E Art Club, The Roots Creative Entrepreneurs, Whau the People
Curators – Balamohan Shingade, Malcolm Smith Gallery; Bruce E. Phillips, Te Tuhi; Ioana Gordon-Smith, Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery; Kelly Carmichael, freelance

back to Te Tuhi youth programme