Fund your creative project with the Creative Communities Scheme.

The next round opens 19 January 2026 for projects starting 1 May 2026.

Decisions for funding are made by a committee of people from the Christchurch area, who are appointed for their knowledge and experience of the arts and local communities. 

Some important pointers for your application that we have noticed have been missing from recent applications:

  • Applications must clearly show how they meet both the Creative New Zealand criteria and the local criteria. Both are listed below.
  • Applications must have accurate quotes for all goods and services – your application may not be considered without this documentation.
  • Be concise and keep to the word limit.  Any further information you wish to give can be uploaded as an attachment.  Put the most important information into the application.  
  • All possible income must be declared in your application. This includes estimated box office takings, sponsorships, in-kind donations, etc.

For assistance, please contact a Community Funding Adviser or email creativecommunities@ccc.govt.nz.

The Creative Communities Scheme (CCS) provides funding to local communities so New Zealanders can be involved in local arts activities.

You can be an individual or a group, but individuals must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.

The scheme supports a wide range of arts projects under the following art forms: 

  • Craft and object arts
  • Dance
  • Inter-arts
  • Literature
  • Māori arts
  • Multi-art form, including film
  • Music
  • Pacific arts
  • Theatre
  • Visual arts

Funding limit

There is now a limit to the amount you can request from each Creative Communities funding round. Your total request must be $6,000 or less.

Your total project budget can still be more than $6000, but the Creative Communities funding will only support up to $6000. 

Ngā Toi Māori

  • We will cultivate opportunities to develop and present Ngā Toi Māori.
  • We will prioritise projects that ensure Māori culture is visible and celebrated by the community.

Audacious

  • We will be bold. We will take risks and foster a culture of innovation.
  • We will prioritise projects that are experimental, non-commercial, and accommodate constructive failure leading to artistic development.

Inclusive

  • We will support a diversity of artistic traditions, practitioners and art forms, and ensure opportunities to participate are accessible.
  • We will prioritise projects that uplift artistic traditions and communities that have been traditionally underrepresented.

Empowering

  • We will back local talent, value the old and the new, encourage and celebrate excellence.
  • We will prioritise projects that are generated by Ōtautahi Christchurch and Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula-based artists and organisations.

Collaborative

  • We will seek to work collaboratively, support one another, communicate clearly and challenge respectfully.
  • We will prioritise projects that increase community participation and develop inter-community partnerships.

If you have already received funding from the Creative Communities Scheme for a project, you must complete a report on that project before making another application, unless the project is still in progress.

To get funding through Creative Communities Scheme, your arts project must do at least one of the following:

Participation

Create opportunities for local communities to engage with and participate in local arts activities.

  • Performances by community choirs, hip-hop groups, theatre companies or poets.
  • Workshops on printmaking, writing or dancing.
  • Exhibitions by local craft groups promoting weaving, pottery and carving.
  • Festivals featuring local artists.
  • Creation of a community film or a public artwork by a community.
  • Development of new tukutuku, whakairo or kowhaiwhai for a local marae.
  • Artist residencies involving local artists or communities.
  • Seminars for local artist development.

Diversity

Support the diverse artistic cultural traditions of local communities, for example:

  • Workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals or exhibitions in Māori or Pasifika heritage or contemporary art forms.
  • Workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals or exhibitions by local migrant communities.
  • Arts projects that bring together groups from a range of different communities.
  • Workshops, rehearsals, performances, festivals or exhibitions by groups with experience of disability or mental illness.

Young people

Enable young people under 18 years to engage with, and participate in the arts, for example:

  • A group of young people working with an artist to create a mural or street art.
  • A group of young people creating a film about an issue that is important to them.
  • Printing a collection of writing by young people.
  • Music workshops for young people.
  • An exhibition of visual artwork by young people.

Your project must also

  • Take place within Christchurch city or district where the application is made.
  • Be completed within 12 months of funding being approved.
  • Benefit local communities.
  • Not have started or finished before Creative Communities Scheme funding is approved.
  • Not have already been funded through Creative New Zealand's other art funding programmes.

Projects that can not be funded

  • Fundraising activities.
  • Developing galleries, marae, theatres or other venues or facilities.
  • Local Council projects.
  • Projects mainly focused on other areas, such as health, education or the environment, which only have a small arts component.
  • Arts projects in schools or other educational institutions that are normally funded through the curriculum or operating budgets.

Costs that can be funded

  • Materials for arts activities or programmes.
  • Venue or equipment hire.
  • Personnel and administrative costs for short-term projects.
  • Promotion and publicity of arts activities.

Costs that can not be funded

  • Ongoing administration or personnel costs that are not related to the specific project.
  • Costs for projects already started or completed.
  • Travel costs to attend performances or exhibitions in other areas.
  • Buying equipment, such as computers, cameras, musical instruments, costumes, lights or uniforms.
  • Entry fees for competitions, contests and exams.
  • Prize money, awards and judges' fees for competitions.
  • Royalties.
  • Buying artwork for collections.
  • Debt or interest on the debt.

All recipients of the Creative Communities Scheme are required to:

  1. Acknowledge the Creative Communities Scheme in any promotional material by using the scheme logo specific to your area.(external link)
  2. Acknowledge the assistance of the scheme verbally at event openings and performances.
  3. Ensure the CCS End of Project Accountability Forms (end-of-project reports) are attached to your submission in Smarty Grants.

Future funding can be withheld if accountability requirements are not met.