Avondale creative spaces : a case study in community building for social change

Abstract

This case study outlines the process, delivery and outcomes of a series of public artwork initiatives undertaken through a partnership between Unitec Institute of Technology research group, the everyday collective laboratory and Avondale Community Action (ACA).

To assist in promoting the benefits of participation and attracting volunteers to assist in ACA’s random household survey, a series of interconnected creative events were designed. These projects, held within the Avondale town centre, were also intended to engage the local people in community based creative processes, making this activity visibly public, and responding to an identified need to introduce public artwork into the Avondale town centre. This was intended to be a signal to, and a catalyst for, positive change – promoting the concept of having “creative space” within the community. These projects were jointly funded by the Whau Local Board, Auckland Council and Unitec, all of whom agreed to a set of specific outcomes. These were primarily to promote public engagement with the arts, data collection for the facilitation of networking, and the prototyping of small-scale, affordable, temporary public artworks as well as assisting the survey to gain traction.