Online arts hub for Porirua

Need help with stage lighting or an art work for your garden? Need a mural painted or an entertainment group for an event launch?

Are you setting up a gallery in a coffee shop? Do you have a hankering to learn the ukulele?

No problem. Go online and click on Porirua’s newly launched arts hub – an online open database of everyone in the region with some sort of artistic talent or management know-how.

‘‘It promises to be a register of artists of all kinds and all genres,’’ said Judy McKoy, chairwoman of the Porirua Community Arts Council, which is behind the new initiative.

‘‘Yes, it does include painters, sculptors, potters, musicians, poets, writers and suchlike.

‘‘But it can also list anyone with skills broadly associated with the arts, such as managers, agents, technicians, event planners, make-up artists, wardrobe and prop providers and gallery owners.’’

She said the idea for an arts hub been incubating for quite a while.

‘‘ The Arts Council is often approached for assistance and advice around projects, performers and events.

‘‘The idea of a central point of information is definitely fulfilling a need. Porirua has a huge pool of talent and we see this every year with the Waitangi Day Festival of the Elements.

‘‘We also experience the rich diversity of the city’s talent through the staging of what has grown into an annual Porirua- wide Matariki festival.

‘‘Now, with the launch of the online hub, people can get their names out there, not for just one or two big occasions.’’

Speaking at the launch of the arts hub last month, Porirua deputy mayor ’ Ana Coffey acknowledged the city’s high level of participation in the arts and the opportunities a central arts database offered.

Register on the Porirua Community Arts Council arts hub at poriruaartscouncil. org. nz/ artshub.