Kāpiti Art Studio
An accessible, inclusive, creative space
Tui - John Jensen
Kāpiti Island - John Jensen
About
Kāpiti Art Studio is an accessible, inclusive, creative space where people who face participation barriers to the arts can express themselves creatively and connect with others in the wider community. We are a not for profit organisation umbrella'd by Kāpiti Impact Trust
Our mission
At Kāpiti Art Studio our mission is to nurture the creativity that comes from within and to foster a more inclusive society. We embrace and celebrate differences and cultural diversity. Kāpiti Art Studio is not only a place for creative self expression but also a
place where the artists create close-knit friendships and form a support base. Kāpiti Art Studio was founded by Colleen Beaumont in 2010 and handed to Rebecca Bond in 2015 when Colleen fell ill and later passed away.
Edward Hoffman - What's the point
Recycled bicycle tyre innertube earrings by Erena Wylie
What we do
We are a safe, inclusive, accessible space where artists can be heard through their creativity and be seen as the artists that they are. Every artist is supported and encouraged to follow their own unique creative path in a variety of mediums and platforms. We support artists to enter art exhibitions, art awards, publish books, build buisnesses, create an income and to come together to create art installations. Currently we have 40 artists attend our Kāpiti and Ōtaki creative spaces.
"I create art that blind people can see."
Erena Wylie- Artist
Our vision
Our vision for Kāpiti Art Studio is to provide a safe, non-judgemental, accessible space and to assist the artists to exhibit and sell their works. This helps provide an income for the artists as well as building a connection with the community which assists in breaking down some of the barriers that many of the artists of Kāpiti Art Studio face.
Erena Wylie and Debbie Holland at the IHC art awards 2022
Erena Wylie and Gabrielle Ashdown at the opening of The Tohorā Project a community installation run by Creative Manaaki we were part of.
Bradley Kuiper at the IHC art awards
Helen Wildin, Matthew Nordberg, Georgia Biggans in front of our "Home" installation in the making.
Home
PARK(ing) Day
Cuba Street Wellington
"Home" draws attention to the concept of holistic wellbeing using the metaphor of the walls and roof of a Māori whare or Samoan fale. This metaphor has been used historically to represent the coming together of the different facets of a person that affect the health and wellbeing of the whole person.
These facets include:● Physical; ● Mental; ● Spiritual;for people ● Family/society; and ● Identity (sexual, gender, age, status).
The metaphor shows that without all of these aspects being treated with the same care and attention, the structure of the whole will be weakened.
At Kāpiti/Ōtaki Art Studio we understand the importance of all the facets and we use these to remove barriers to participation to increase accessibility. This installation allows us to draw attention to the need for places where the whole person's wellbeing is met. It also highlights the importance of this concept to give an understanding about diversity in all of the facets of Hauora and Fonofale.
We built an accessible room with a large entrance way. The public/everyone are encouraged to look around and reflect on the different areas in their own lives with the words "How's your heart?" written in chalk on the ground.
Get in Touch
kapitiartstudio@outlook.com
Golden Cirlce - Charlotte Turner
Presence and Absence - Debbie Holland
Golden Leaves - Stacey Menzies
Kapiti art studio