Creative communities scheme | Hamilton City Council

Fund snapshot

Creative Waikato administer Hamilton’s Creative Communities Scheme funding on behalf of Hamilton City Council. Each year Creative New Zealand provides funding to city and district councils for distribution in their area. The Creative Communities Scheme aims to increase participation in the arts, broaden the range and diversity of the arts available to communities and enhance and strengthen the local arts sector.

Why do we have this fund?

Our Council recognises the value of our diverse communities and that connecting all Hamiltonians through community, art and cultural projects and activities helps to build an intercultural society, and a deep understanding and respect for all.
This links in with He Pou Manawa Ora – Pillars of Wellbeing, which focuses on wellbeing for all Hamiltonians, and our Welcoming Plan to ensure all people coming to live or stay in Hamilton feel welcomed and engaged. That’s also why Council supports activating public spaces and places – to bring our communities together.

What does this fund look like?

The Creative Partnership Fund is a new fund created by Council in 2021/22. It is a dollar-for-dollar co-funding scheme that supports the city's creative community in delivering new arts initiatives, from performances and artwork to multicultural activities. Funding opens 1 July each year and closes 30 June the following year, or earlier if funds have been allocated.

Application criteria

Who can apply

To apply to the fund, your arts initiative must be new.
Initiatives must have secured funding or sponsorship equal to the amount being requested.
Initiatives must be local to Hamilton.
There is no dollar limit (within the fund’s total pool of $150,000) to the amount requested per application.
Applications can be made at any stage of the project but if successful, applicants will need to have secured funding or sponsorship equal to the amount granted from the fund prior to payment being made.

What will be funded?

New creative projects.
New arts development and implementation.
New installation and/or performance costs.

The application

1. Application processes, guidelines and help.

Please get in touch with our fund administrator before using this application form – see contact info below.

Once you’re ready to apply, you’ll need to register on Smartygrants, then follow the guidelines to complete your application. This will set out what you need to get together before you apply.

There are many help options available through online guides and video tutorials when you are logged into the Smartygrants platform.

Also, here’s how we can help you with the online application process:

You can ask for assistance from one of our funding administrators, if you need it.
You can attend an information session (held in February each year).
You can attend one of our regular funding workshops held throughout the year.

2. When and how you can expect to hear back from us

Once submitted, we’ll review your application. However, it will be at least 12 weeks before you can expect to hear the outcome of your application. Please take this into account when you plan your project dates as we can’t fund retrospective requests.

Apply for it