Te Wāhi Toi/The Arts Place exists to connect the creative community of Queenstown and Wānaka with audiences, students, teachers, spaces and each other. We are a not-for-profit organisation powered by Three Lakes Cultural Trust and inspired by local arts and culture.
About Te Wāhi Toi
Everything arts and culture
Welcome to Te Wāhi Toi / The Arts Place, the online home for all things arts, culture and creativity in and around Queenstown and Wānaka. Te Wāhi Toi offers a space to discover, connect and collaborate with our creative community. A space for the arts to thrive.
Te Wāhi Toi
THE ARTS PLACE
What we do
Te Wāhi Toi exists to nurture the growth of arts, culture and creativity in our district by providing a free space to promote, share and support artists and events.
Personalise your Te Wāhi Toi experience by signing up and creating a profile to your interests. Every time you visit Te Wāhi Toi, your customised feed will show more of what you love and less of what you don't. Then, create a free listing in our Creative Directory to share your profile, event, or creative space with our community.
BACKGROUND
The idea of an online directory for all things arts, culture and creativity in our district sprung from a report commissioned by the Three Lakes Cultural Trust in 2020. Crafted with invaluable feedback from our community, the district's first independent Cultural Masterplan called for a virtual hub where our creative community could come together to network and collaborate. And so, Te Wāhi Toi was born.
Our goal was to create an online platform where people could find local art practitioners, discover new events, list creative spaces, and collaborate as a community. A place where creative practitioners can work together to lift each other up and elevate the overall arts and culture scene in our district.
Te Wāhi Toi launched in 2023, providing a valuable and centralised resource for our local arts and culture community. From Glenorchy to Hāwea and all the spaces in between, we're bringing our communities closer so we can grow together.
Te Wāhi Toi is an initiative of the Three Lakes Cultural Trust. The trust provided initial seed funding for the project, however, the ongoing success of Te Wāhi Toi is thanks to community grants and the many local businesses, individuals and groups that are passionate supporters of the arts.
The Te Wāhi Toi team may be small, but we are huge advocates for our vibrant cultural community.
Samantha Kirk
Samantha Kirk is the curator at Te Wāhi Toi and an integral part of the Three Lakes Cultural Trust team since 2021. Passionate about supporting and sharing the work of creatives in our district, Sam is thrilled to be part of the movement bringing arts and culture to the heart of the community. Her prior experience in corporate event management allowed her the opportunity to work with local musicians, production teams, and makers. Combined with her pragmatic approach to life, Samantha's experience and excitement for the arts make her a valuable addition to the Te Wāhi Toi team.
Tamara Vivian
Tamara is the digital communications coordinator at Te Wāhi Toi, and has been part of the wider Three Lakes Cultural Trust team since late 2022. A copywriter and creative based in Wānaka, Tamara is passionate about nurturing creativity in our community from the roots up, working towards an arts and culture scene in our district that challenges norms, celebrates diversity and encourages curiosity. With a background in marketing communications and a weird love for good grammar, Tamara is a valuable addition to the Te Wāhi Toi team.
Our supporters
Only through support and advocacy can our cultural community grow and thrive. We are extremely grateful to the businesses and groups who share our vision and choose to support Te Wāhi Toi through grants, donations and corporate partnership. Here are our key supporters.
SUPPORTERS & FOUNDING PATRONS
The Three Lakes Cultural Trust (TLCT) exists to support and encourage arts and cultural life in the Lakes District. The concept of an online arts and culture directory began with TLCT and a 2020 feasibility study into how the trust could achieve better outcomes for the creative community. This study led to TLCT working to provide initial seed funding for the project. Today, Te Wāhi Toi is proudly powered by the Three Lakes Cultural Trust and aligns with the trust’s vision to keep arts and culture at the heart of our community.
Youthtown is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most respected not-for-profit organisations. Youthtown has a proud history of developing and supporting young people. Each year they support thousands of worthy causes, with the goal of helping young people raise their aspirations, realise their potential and have their achievements recognised.
The Dick and Diana Hubbard Foundation are pleased to support the Three Lakes Cultural Trust because they passionately believe that a strong arts sector leads to a strong community. Three Lakes Cultural Trust is incredibly thankful for the Foundation's generous contribution to Te Wāhi Toi and the greater Trust.
We are sincerely grateful for Philippa's passionate support of the Three Lakes Cultural Trust’s vision for our district’s arts and culture sector and her generous contribution to the Te Wāhi Toi project.
As our local council body, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), is responsible for making decisions alongside and on behalf of the people of the district. We acknowledge the support QLDC showed for Te Wāhi Toi by providing seed funding for the project within the 2019/20 Annual Plan. QLDC continues to provide ongoing support for Te Wāhi Toi by keeping local arts and culture at the forefront of community discussions and planning.
Aotearoa Gaming Trust is a proud funding provider to a wide range of community groups and charitable causes within New Zealand. The team at Te Wāhi Toi are grateful to AGT for supporting the build and instillation of an image editor onto the site, which has been hugely beneficial to our artists, makers, musicians and entire creativity community for making the formatting and loading of images that much more technically inclusive.
CORPORATE PARTNERS
Working with the Three Lakes Trust as a strategic creative partner, Feast Creative has helped Te Wāhi Toi realise their dream of unifying the arts and culture community of the Southern Lakes. Specialists in crafting and building iconic brands, Feast Creative is a strategic advertising and design agency in the heart of Queenstown.
All about the Wānaka community and its surrounds, the Wānaka App features local news, sport, information and events. Certain that Te Wāhi Toi will serve to enhance our community, Tony, Pip and the team are proud to promote this website that is transforming access to everything arts and culture related in our district.
Lane Neave has the specialist expertise to help with any technology matter and have efficiently sorted the legals for Te Wāhi Toi. Lane Neave’s unique place in Aotearoa’s legal services market allows them to provide the legal capability and depth of resources of a large law firm, while enjoying the ability of a boutique-sized law firm to develop close and long-lasting client relationships.
We express gratitude to the Cook Brothers Community, an initiative by Cook Brothers Construction, for their support in empowering and uplifting local communities. Their contribution to Te Wāhi Toi nurtures a vibrant creative community, fostering the growth of future artists. Thank you for your valuable support.
Everything you need to know about joining the Te Wāhi Toi community. Before you add your listing to our creative directory or add an event or venue, have a read through our FAQs.
Let us know about any website issues by emailing curator@tewahitoi.co.nz.
We appreciate your help to make Te Wāhi Toi a powerful resource for our community.
Nothing! However, you can do a few things to ensure your listing stands out. We recommend your listing includes high-quality images and copy.
Three Lakes Cultural Trust runs education sessions for creatives wanting to learn how to craft good promotional photos and copy. Find out how to attend one of these sessions in person or to watch a recording in our Resources section.
There are plenty of reasons to join our creative directory, here are just a few.
Te Wāhi Toi’s most important goal is to be inclusive. We welcome those from every aspect of the arts and cultural community in and around Queenstown and Wānaka. We wholeheartedly invite you to contribute if you are an individual, or represent a community group or business that is involved in our district’s vibrant arts and culture scene via:
Architecture
Craft-Object art
Dance
Film
Multidisciplinary arts
Music
Kā Toi Māori
Theatre
Visual arts
We encourage you to join the community whether you are a professional, part-timer, business, hobbyist or complete beginner.
