Wellington council proposes significant cuts to arts and culture

Thursday, 14 May 2026

A campaign is under way to stop Wellington City Council cutting its budget for the arts, with a petition calling on officials to reverse a proposal that would see hundreds of thousands of dollars taken away from cultural activity.

The council is proposing to remove $410,000 from Creative Capital services ‒ funding that goes towards arts and events grants, Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, management of the city art collection, and venue subsidies.

It’s also proposing to reduce the budget for activities in the recently reopened Civic Square by $350,000. Together, the cuts are part of $6 million of proposed savings across the entire council budget, to keep rates down.

A petition opposing the cuts received more than 1000 signatures, which has been presented to the council, said Wellington’s creative capital identity was not accidental.

“The arts are the heart of who we are. This identity has been built over time through the work of artists and arts organisations, sustained public investment, and the everyday cultural life of the city. This ecosystem is now under pressure from proposed budget changes,” the petition says.

Kirsten Mason, the co-chairperson of Toi o Taraika Arts Wellington, the advocacy group that helped co-ordinate the petition, said the Creative Capital budget faced a proposed cut of 5%, compared with significantly lower cuts across other departments ‒ for example, only 0.4% in the council’s Social and Recreation area.

The disparity raises serious concerns about fairness, the petition says.

“Arts investment is essential civic infrastructure. It supports a strong creative economy, sustains jobs and creative careers, strengthens community wellbeing and connection, and underpins Wellington’s cultural identity and public life.”

The cuts would reduce paid employment opportunities for independent artists, performers, technicians, designers, suppliers, educators, and the businesses that support cultural activity across the city, and reduce opportunities for the public to experience cultural programming, the petition says.

While Toi o Taraika Arts Wellington recognised the financial pressure the council was under, it was asking councillors to correct the disparity so the cuts to arts and culture were not disproportionately higher than other areas.

It was also asking for no reduction to arts and cultural grant allocations; for the council to double down on its commitment to delivering its long-term cultural strategy Aho Tini; and for the arts to be treated with fairness and consistency in future investment decisions.

In an interview, Mason said Wellington had held its creative capital title for more than 20 years. She was mystified and outraged the council wouldn’t see the connection between maintaining that title and funding.

Mason said there was more work to do to ensure council staff understood the myriad research showing the wide socio-economic benefits of investment in cultural activity.

She added that the council’s Creative Capital team already operates on a lean budget, and so any further funding changes would inevitably mean people would lose out on jobs.

Lucy Margaux-Marinkovich, an independent artist and the other co-chairperson of Toi o Taraika Arts Wellington, said she was worried if there were further cuts to the city’s cultural funding, even more young people and creatives would leave the city in search of employment elsewhere.

While local politicians were happy to talk about the creative capital and use it as a slogan, they actually needed to fund it and invest in it, Margaux-Marinkovich said.

“At what point is Wellington still the creative capital when we can’t support emerging talent and maturing artists, [when there’s] no opportunities, seniors are not getting big commissions. … This is what breaks my heart a little bit. I don’t think it’s ever been this hard.”

She feared that pathways for young people were being eroded. “People are leaving. Not just Wellington ‒ they’re leaving New Zealand. … This feels unbelievably short-sighted.”

The proposal comes as regional economic development agency WellingtonNZ rolls out a new campaign to promote Wellington as a tourism destination, dubbed More Wellington, that builds on new openings, developments and events in the city.

“Culture, food, creativity, nightlife, nature, politics, opinion, weather and humour all collide in a small footprint - and that’s our superpower,” said Todd Barberel of WellingtonNZ.

Councillor Nicola Young said Wellington boasts of being the cultural capital, and there were plenty of areas that could be trimmed “without damaging our fragile arts sector that underpins our city’s reputation”.

Councillor Laurie Foon said cutting arts and events funding ‒ which is proven to generate great economic returns ‒ would hurt both the local economy, and reflect poorly on the city’s commitment to being the creative capital.

“Isn’t supporting the arts central to our identity, or are we willing to let Christchurch take our coveted creative capital title?”

Recently Christchurch City Council adopted a 10-year strategy aimed at cementing that city as one of Aotearoa’s cultural capitals.

Sophie Jerram, a Wellington-based researcher, curator and treasurer of the Wellington Independent Arts Trust, said if an event needed to be reviewed, the council could possibly cease its Christmas events programme, given the popularity in recent years of Matariki.

Officials needed to give thought to the city’s above-ground infrastructure as much as its below-ground infrastructure, Jerram said.

She added that many of the city’s sports grounds and buildings were non-rateable, and suggested officers look “underneath the spreadsheet” to find more savings elsewhere.

The council meets on Thursday to begin hearing submissions on the proposal. Its annual plan is not scheduled for adoption until late June.