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Dance | Drama | Fashion | Film | Literature | Music | Traditional | Visual Arts
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Career information | Financial support and funding | Scholarships and awards | Arts links
DANCE
AUCKLAND
Apollo Theatre School
Offers two NZQA approved and accredited courses: the one year Certificate in Preparatory Dance or the two year Diploma in Musical Theatre. Students can also gain teaching qualifications by opting to study the AJDA Jazz Teaching Certificates as part of the Diploma in Musical Theatre.
AUT University
Offers a Bachelor of Dance degree, with practical and theoretical underpinnings.
National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, University of Auckland
Offers courses in architecture, urban planning and design, dance, fine arts, visual arts and music.
Performing Arts School of New Zealand
Specialises in short courses in the performing arts for all ages, with classes in theatre, dance and body knowledge, with both a recreational and career focus.
Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts
Offers a range of courses in acting, contemporary dance, directing, writing, technology and music.
CHRISTCHURCH
National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA)
Offers courses in acting, singing, dance/movement, voice, musicianship, theory and cultural studies.
DUNEDIN
University of Otago Dance Studies
Offers students the opportunity to develop academic and research skills in Dance Studies through undergraduate and postgraduate courses while also promoting dance artistry and choreography.
HAMILTON
University of Waikato
Offers undergraduate papers in Dance and Māori Performing Arts as supporting subjects to all students enrolled in a range of degrees. The papers enhance students’ core skills and allow them to develop as Dance and/or Māori Performing Arts scholars, teachers, performers, researchers and choreographers.
PALMERSTON NORTH
UCOL
UCOL’s Level 4 Certificate in Performing Arts provides a foundation of knowledge and skills in acting, dance, singing, musical theatre, voice and acting for camera.
WELLINGTON
New Zealand School of Dance
New Zealand’s national school for dance, with two-year and three-year intensive training programmes in classical ballet and contemporary dance for students from all over the world between the ages of 16 and 19.
Wellington Performing Arts Centre (WPAC)
Full-time and professional part-time courses in acting and dance, as well as community classes for adults and children.
Whitireia Community Polytechnic
Offers courses in visual arts, design and multimedia, dance, acting, music, photography, creative writing, journalism, publishing, Māori arts and design, English language, floristry and jewellery.
DRAMA
AUCKLAND
Performing Arts School of New Zealand
Specialises in short courses in the performing arts for all ages, with classes in theatre, dance and body knowledge, with both a recreational and career focus.
Unitec: Performing and Screen Arts
Offers a range of courses in acting, contemporary dance, directing, writing, technology and music.
University of Auckland: Drama Studies
Undergraduate and post-graduate courses in drama.
Pacific Institute of Performing Arts
Offers New Zealand’s first Diploma in Pacific Performing Arts with programmes that combine contemporary teaching practice with a Pasifika flavour for students with stage and screen ambitions.
CHRISTCHURCH
Canterbury University
Offers undergraduate courses in theatre and film, postgraduate degrees and the Graduate Diploma in the Arts.
Hagley Theatre Company
Offers a post-secondary, pre-tertiary performance course for years 18+, part-time classes for those with employment or family commitments, and after school tuition for students between the age of 10 and 18.
National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA)
Offers courses in acting, singing, dance/movement, voice, musicianship, theory and cultural studies.
DUNEDIN
Otago University: Theatre Studies
A performance-oriented course that provides students with inside knowledge on how a theatre actually operates, with regular performances.
NORTHLAND
Northtec
Offers Certificate in Applied Arts - Theatre (Level 4) and Diploma in Performing Arts (Creative Techniques).
PALMERSTON NORTH
UCOL
UCOL’s Level 4 Certificate in Performing Arts provides a foundation of knowledge and skills in acting, dance, singing, musical theatre, voice and acting for camera.
WELLINGTON
New Zealand College of Performing Arts
Offers a Diploma in Stage and Screen Arts, Level 6, and a Diploma in Applied Stage and Screen Arts (Advanced), Level 7, in association with Whitireia Community Polytechnic.
Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School
Courses include acting, performing arts management, technology, costumes and directing.
Victoria University: School of English, Film, Theatre & Media Studies
Offers courses in English, film, theatre and media studies.
Wellington Performing Arts Centre (WPAC)
Full-time and professional part-time courses in acting and dance, as well as community classes for adults and children.
Whitireia Community Polytechnic
Offers courses in visual arts, design and multimedia, dance, acting, music, photography, creative writing, journalism, publishing, Māori arts and design, English language, floristry, jewellery.
FASHION
AUCKLAND
AUT University
AUT University’s Bachelor of Design in Fashion fosters a professional attitude from concept development and design to the end product, with an emphasis on both creative and technical aspects of fashion work.
Massey University Auckland
Degree-level study of Fashion Design encompasses knowledge of textile materials, market and trend analysis, innovative and creative design of apparel, skills in producing patterns and prototype garments, and the development of an ability to position fashion products in the marketplace.
Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design
Programmes range from 6 months to 4 years in duration, with subjects including Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Photography, Film/Video, Art Therapy, Arts Administration and Fine Arts.
HAMILTON
Wintec
Wintec’s Diploma in Fashion Design and Practice is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to enter the fashion industry.
WANGANUI
Whanganui UCOL
Whanganui UCOL offers a diverse range of study programmes focusing on the Creative Industries, with national and international recognition accorded to UCOL’s School of Fine Arts, Fashion Design and School of Design.
WELLINGTON
School of Design, Massey University
Massey’s Bachelor of Design in Fashion Design is a 4-year programme encompassing market and trend analysis, innovative and creative design of apparel, garment pattern making and prototyping skills and the positioning of fashion products in the marketplace.
FILM
AUCKLAND
New Zealand Film Academy
Offers aspiring film makers the opportunity to hone their story telling craft and to get a start in the industry, with a focus on practical experience and the significance of story telling.
University of Auckland
Offers courses in film studies/film theory, media, new media and television studies, television production and media writing, and Aotearoa/New Zealand and the Pacific.
CHRISTCHURCH
University of Canterbury
All film studies courses focus on film history and theory, and include a film-making component.
DUNEDIN
University of Otago
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) programme in Film and Media Studies at Otago is designed to give students a thorough grounding in the analysis of film, television and new media.
HAMILTON
University of Waikato: Screen and Media Studies
The university’s Screen and Media Studies Department aims to provide teaching that is responsive to the many cultural backgrounds of Waikato students, to the challenges of the subject, and to the changing work environment. Expect lectures and discussions, but also TV studio and computer laboratory sessions, role-play exercises, group activities, screenings, seminars and online tutorials and activities.
WELLINGTON
New Zealand Film and Television School
Specialises in teaching on film and with film. Film School students gain experience at writing, directing and editing, lighting, camerawork and sound, with a combination of hands-on experience, visiting tutors and theory.
Victoria University
Film study at Victoria is distinguished by its close association with Theatre. Studio and technical facilities are shared with Victoria University’s Theatre Programme, and there are several joint film/theatre courses.
LITERATURE
DISTANCE
NZ Institute of Business Studies
Distance learning courses for New Zealanders who want an enjoyable work-at-home business, or an income-generating hobby.
Northtec
Provides vocational training and a broad academic background in applied writing.
Whitireia Community Polytechnic
Offers a Diploma in Creative Writing and a Diploma in Publishing, with courses in short fiction, scriptwriting, poetry, non-fiction and writing for children, which can be taken individually or credited to a diploma.
Waiariki Institute of Technology
Offers an online Diploma in Creative Writing, Certificate in Creative Writing, or individual courses.
AUCKLAND
Auckland University
The English Department within the Faculty of Arts at Auckland University covers the study of texts of all kinds; mostly fiction, drama and poetry, but also other types of writing, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
AUT University
AUT University’s English Studies degree is made up of two complementary areas of focus. First, the use of language as both an object of study and a vehicle for various purposes, the second area concentrates on literature and culture.
Centre for Continuing Education, Auckland University
The Continuing Education programme offers a wide variety of open entry courses including languages, arts, humanities, music and social sciences.
UNITEC
UNITEC’s Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts (Directing and Writing for Screen and Theatre) provides the skills for a professional career as a writer or director for film, television and theatre.
CHRISTCHURCH
University of Canterbury
As a major subject, English can be continued to the BA(Hons), MFA(Creative Writing), MA or PhD degrees. Students explore not just written works but visual and performance “texts” as well as cinema and TV, museums, tourism and festivals.
The School for Young Writers
A not-for-profit organisation offering tuition to young writers anywhere in the world.
DUNEDIN
Aoraki Polytechnic
Offers Certificate in Creative Writing, including poetry and creative non-fiction.
Otago Polytechnic
Offers courses in the theory and practice of short and long fiction writing.
Otago University
The University of Otago offers Literature papers as part of its Bachelor of Arts degree, which ranges from under-graduate to doctorate levels.
HAMILTON
University of Waikato
At the University of Waikato English is available as a major for the Bachelor of Arts. English may also be taken as a second major or as a supporting subject within other undergraduate degrees. Papers are drawn from literatures written in English since medieval times, and from all major English-speaking cultures, especially from the United Kingdom, North America, India, Australia, and New Zealand.
NELSON/MARLBOROUGH
Nelson/Marlborough Institute of Technology
Offers creative writing courses in poetry, fiction, non fiction and writing for children and young adults.
NORTHLAND
Northtec
Provides vocational training and a broad academic background in applied writing.
PALMERSTON NORTH
Massey University
Offers a range of undergraduate and graduate creative writing and performance papers either via internally or to extramurally from home in New Zealand or abroad.
TARANAKI
Western Institute of Technology
Offers extra-mural or full-time study in media studies.
WELLINGTON
International Institute of Modern Letters (Victoria University)
The International Institute of Modern Letters was established to promote and foster contemporary imaginative writing. In 2000 Victoria University was chosen to be its New Zealand headquarters and the Institute was inaugurated here March 2001.
Massey University
Massey University offers a range of English and Literature courses both internally and extramurally through their School of English and Media Studies. The school offers papers in Literature, Expressive Arts, Written and Spoken Communication, and Media Studies.
Victoria University
Victoria University offers English Literature and Language papers as part of their Bachelor of Arts programme, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Whitireia Community Polytechnic
Offers a Diploma in Creative Writing and a Diploma in Publishing, with courses in short fiction, scriptwriting, poetry, non-fiction and writing for children, which can be taken individually or credited to a diploma.
MUSIC
AUCKLAND
National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, University of Auckland
Offers an extensive range of qualifications in music from Bachelor to Doctorate levels.
CHRISTCHURCH
University of Canterbury School of Music
Offers a range of courses at graduate and postgraduate levels in performance, composition, digital music, ethno-musicology, music history and research, musicianship and music education. Also houses the Pettman Junior Academy of Music for talented young musicians and the National Centre for Research in Music Education & Sound Arts.
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
CPIT’s Bachelor of Musical Arts consists of practical and theoretical courses in a variety of music topics including instrumental or vocal practical study, music theory, composition, arranging, history, improvisation, sound, technology and a supervised research project in the final year. Students will choose between a Jazz pathway and a Popular Music pathway that integrates skills in performance, writing and production.
Christchurch School of Music
Teaches practical and theoretical music skills and provides opportunities for the study, practice, and performance of a wide range of music.
DUNEDIN
Otago University Department of Music
Offers a wide range of subjects including classical western art music, contemporary rock, world music and cultural studies, musicology, composition and song writing, music technology, the music industry, performance in a rock band or as a classical singer, violinist, cellist, pianist and selected other instruments.
HAMILTON
University of Waikato
Offers courses in Western classical music from Baroque to contemporary, through performance, compostition, and musical scholarship. Its electroacoustic stream encourages students to utilise the latest in computer music technology in their music production.
WELLINGTON
Te Koki the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University
Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington have combined the strengths of their Conservatorium of Music and School of Music to offer students opportunities for comprehensive study unique in this country. The NZSM takes a holistic approach to music, placing equal value on composition, musicology and performance, with strengths in jazz and classical performance.
Whitireia Community Polytechnic
Offers courses in visual arts, design and multimedia, dance, acting, music, photography, creative writing, journalism, publishing, Māori arts and design, English language, floristry and‚ jewellery.
TRADITIONAL
AUCKLAND
University of Auckland
The university’s Centre for Pacific Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Pacific region and its peoples. Pacific Studies allows for the comparative study of the cultures, performing arts, languages, art, literature, history and linguistics of the Pacific.
DUNEDIN
University of Otago
The university’s Pacific Islands Studies programme at the University of Otago offers a first year degree course in Pacific Dance.
WELLINGTON
Victoria University
Pacific Studies is an interdisciplinary programme of study that is international and cross-cultural in scope. Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington emphasises a Cultural Studies approach to analysing historical and contemporary phenomena.
VISUAL ARTS
AUCKLAND
Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland
Offers a broad range of art and design activities supported in an interdisciplinary studio environment.
Manukau School of Visual Arts
The Bachelor of Visual Arts is taught at the Manukau School of Visual Arts with the University of Auckland as the delivering institution. The School of Visual Arts aims to empower students in all the working methods necessary for creative expression.
Unitec
Individuals who want to pursue careers as curators, fine artists, photographers, painters, graphic designers, animators, or contemporary jewellers can enrol at Unitec for a Certificate or a Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts in six majors: contemporary craft, graphic design and animation, interior design, product and furniture design, photography and media arts, and visual arts.
Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design
Programmes range from 6 months to 4 years in duration, with subjects including Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Photography, Film/Video, Art Therapy, Arts Administration and Fine Arts.
AUT University
This programme includes fashion, textiles, digital design, graphic design, product design and spatial design. The Bachelor of Visual Arts builds expertise in the making of art and in the methods used to generate, develop and critique works of art. It incorporates a range of media disciplines.
CHRISTCHURCH
Centre of Contemporary Art (COCA)
A provider to Canterbury schools of high quality art education programmes under contract to the Ministry of Education. COCA offers a number of learning opportunities each term at little or no cost, designed to provide students in Canterbury with a “hands-on”, curriculum-based experience of contemporary New Zealand art in authentic learning contexts.
School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury
As New Zealand’s first art school, the School of Fine Arts is one of the oldest in the English-speaking world. Bachelor of Fine Arts students are introduced to all six specialist studio courses in their first year, then specialise in either film, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking or sculpture.
DUNEDIN
Otago Polytechnic School of Art
The Otago Polytechnic currently offers a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with the opportunity to specialise in a selection of eight disciplines: Ceramics, Electronic Arts, Jewellery and Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture and Textiles.
WANGANUI
Whanganui UCOL
Whanganui UCOL offers a diverse range of study programmes focusing on the Creative Industries, with national and international recognition accorded to UCOL’s School of Fine Arts, Fashion Design and School of Design.
WELLINGTON
School of Design, Massey University
Offers programmes at diploma and degree level, through undergraduate and postgraduate study, including MFA and PhD.
School of Fine Arts, Massey University
Offers programmes at diploma and degree level, through undergraduate and postgraduate study, including MFA and PhD.
Whitireia Community Polytechnic
Offers courses in visual arts, design and multimedia, dance, acting, music, photography, creative writing, journalism, publishing, Maori arts and design, English language, floristry and jewellery.
School of Design, Victoria University
Offers qualifications in digital media design, industrial design and design studies.
The Learning Connexion
Offers the Diploma of Art and Creativity (Honours) and an Advanced Diploma of Art and Creativity.
CAREER INFORMATION
Careers Services
FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND FUNDING
Creative NZ
Creative NZ offers grants for arts projects as one of the ways it works to develop and promote New Zealand’s arts and artists, both at home and internationally.
Creative NZ funds projects that focus on the development of New Zealand arts and artists, are stand-alone arts activities with a start and an end point, or are programmes of work over a clearly defined period of time.
Creative NZ Pacific Arts Committee
Creative NZ’s Pacific Arts Committee has four funding programmes, each with a different aim:
- Heritage Arts - to support the participation of Pacific Islands peoples in their heritage arts
- Pacific Arts Development - to support the development of Pacific Islands arts and artists
- Pacific Arts Promotion - to develop the profile and an awareness of Pacific Islands arts and artists
- Tangata Whenua Links - to strengthen links between Pacific Islands artists and tangata whenua.
Department of Internal Affairs
Lottery Grants are available for different types of projects and services, including the Pacific Provider Development Fund.
Funding Information Service (FIS)
A not-for-profit organisation collecting and distributing information about funding for community groups in New Zealand, details of awards, scholarships and grants available to New Zealand
individuals for personal development, principally in academic, artistic, research and
sporting fields, and organisations looking for mutually beneficial relationships with businesses offering volunteering, mentoring, sponsorship, gifts in kind, loans and other initiatives.
Pacific Business Trust
The Pacific Business Trust ensures New Zealanders of Pacific descent who are either starting a business or expanding an existing one, do so with the best possible support and financial advice available. This support covers a wide range of business services, such as mentoring, loans, financial management and advice. The Trust runs seminars and workshops to assist in planning the next business step a company can embark on.
Sorted
New Zealand’s free independent money guide, run by the Retirement Commission. It’s full of calculators and information to help you manage your personal finances throughout life.
SCHOLARSHIPS, RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
Auckland Regional Council Regional Park Residency
The ARC gives an artist the opportunity to live and work in a regional park. The residency is open to visual artists and other ‘creators’, including filmmakers, poets, composers, writers and choreographers. The artist works for eight weeks between September and November 2009. The closing date for the 2009 residency is 16 February 2009.
AUT
The Henry Wilson Pasifika Scholarship (for Art and Design) to reward the achievement of Pasifika students and encourage them to pursue postgraduate education in Art and Design. Amount Awarded: Tuition Fees. Closing Date: 16 February 2010.
The Tuakana/Teina Scholarship in Community Leadership and Excellence (for Art and Design) is for Maori and Pasifika Art and Design students to reward leadership qualities and academic excellence. Amount Awarded: Tuition Fees. Closing Date: 16th February 2010.
Christchurch School of Music
Each year the School awards up to twelve bursaries, each worth 60% of the value of a full year’s primary fees. There are several scholarships available for competition among the School’s students. The scholarships are for music tuition or for the purchase of music or musical instruments.
Community Trust of Southland Art Scholarships
Available to groups or individuals involved with visual arts, (including arts, craft, film) and performing arts (including music, theatre and dance), literary arts and other art forms. Includes those wishing to bring elite arts practitioners to Southland for workshops, lectures, master class or similar.
Creative New Zealand
Offers a range of contestable funding programmes, grants to one-off arts projects and supports professional arts organisations on an annual or three-year basis.
Creative NZ/Macmillan Brown Pacific Artists in Residence
Offered on an annual basis at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, Christchurch. It is open to established traditional or contemporary Pacific artists in the fields of textiles, ceramics, painting, sculpture, and the literary and performing arts.
Fulbright New Zealand
Fulbright New Zealand offers a range of awards - from postgraduate study awards to visiting scholar awards.
Laurie Coon Foundation Scholarship in Painting (University of Auckland)
Awarded to students enrolled full-time in either the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Fine Arts conjoint degrees at The University of Auckland.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Links to information on major cultural sector awards, scholarships and residencies available to New Zealanders.
Pacific Music Awards
The S3 Pacific Music awards is a true celebration of Pacific music.
The Arts Centre of Christchurch Artist in Residence
This residency is by invitation and the artist must be involved in a project that wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Christchurch Arts Centre or the use of its facilities.
University of Waikato
Offers a range of music scholarships for school leavers, undergraduates and graduates.
Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing (University of Canterbury)
This residency, based in the Department of English at the University of Canterbury, is supported by funding from Creative New Zealand and is awarded annually to a New Zealand writer.
Waikato Museum and ArtsPost Award
Entrants in this competition are required to create a sculptural art piece out of No.8 wire. The total prize-money is worth $10,000 and entries must be submitted by 17 April 2009.
Westfield Style Pasifika Awards
ARTS LINKS
Brown Pages Directory
Contains contact details for a wide range of Māori, Pacific and indigenous talent in media, arts and culture in New Zealand, the Pacific, Australia, Canada and America.
Dance Aotearoa New Zealand
The national organisation for New Zealand dance, tasked with developing the long-term health and growth of New Zealand dance and increasing its public profile through information, services and resources for - and working with - the dance industry.
NZContemporary
Information about leading-edge contemporary art practice in New Zealand as well as the art community working in this field.
NZ Film Commission
Provides film industry support, training and development support and funding, production finance for feature films and short films. Also participates in the promotion and marketing of New Zealand films domestically and internationally.
NZLive
NZLive is about connecting you with New Zealand culture - art, performance, music, books, film, festivals, heritage, sport, recreation and more. Find out about New Zealand’s many events and activities and the people and organisations that are making them happen, as well as explore a wealth of cultural content.
NZ Music Commission
The NZ Music Industry Commission is set up to support musicians, to increase the commercial viability of the New Zealand music industry, and to advance the education of the public in contemporary popular New Zealand music.
NZ Writers Guild
A professional non-profit association for writers in the fields of film, television, radio, theatre, video and multi-media. The national office is located in Auckland. It is a member of the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG).
Screen Directors Guild
Works to advance the industrial and artistic interests of directors working in film and television. The SDG has two branches, in Auckland and Wellington.
Script to Screen
An independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the development of a screenwriting culture in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Its programme of talks, workshops, and other events provides opportunities for both established and emerging screenwriters to meet up, share knowledege, and develop their craft.
Tautai Contemporary Arts Trust
Tautai began in 1988 as an initiative by Samoan artist Fatu Feu’u and others to accelerate the development of contemporary Pacific art in Aotearoa.
The Big Idea Te Äria Nui
An online community for more than 16,000 creative practitioners, producers and organizations, with fresh updates daily on everything you need to know to be a networked and informed member of the creative industries in New Zealand today.
