The Incubator
WORDS TALIA WALDEGRAVE PHOTOS TRACIE HEASMAN
After writing about The Men’s Shed in the summer UNO, I convinced my editor to let me go back to The Historic Village, as there’s just so much going on. Last time I came, my interest was piqued by the big red barn of The Incubator.
Simone Anderson gives me a guided tour and explains the role of The Incubator in Tauranga.
“In 2013, a few of us artists wanted studios, get out of our homes, and be in a space with other artists, and possibly exhibit our work. There was nowhere really in Tauranga for artists and musicians to be together.
“We found this brilliant space at The Historic Village, and started looking around at filling the gaps culturally by offering adult art classes, putting on exhibitions and events.
When The Incubator opened in 2013, Simone and the team decided to have an exhibition. “We wanted it to be amazing, and for everyone to feel part of it, even if we thought we might not sell anything! The audience became the art too. We called it The Midnight Circus, and everyone came in costume. We had trapezists, fire eaters, all sorts! We wanted people to really feel enriched by it, that what we had done was worthwhile.”
“The speed with which The Incubator has grown has been completely unforeseen. The growth has been reactionary to the hunger. There was no common denominator for art in our city, just lots of fracture. The Incubator is a platform where that creativity can take place.
“We run lots of projects, supported by a collective made up of our resident artists, and a wider group of creative people who support our philosophy who volunteer a wide range of skills; graphic designers, writers, craftspeople, and theyall collaborate on our projects.”
A Grim Tale
To explain the kinds of projects they undertake, Simone hands me a copy of A Grim Tale. This beautiful book was a collaboration with The Women’s Refuge, putting together survivors of physical abuse, writers and artists. Putting such beauty behind such a taboo subject is such an innovative way to tell a story and just highlights how creatively The Incubator team likes to think.
Other collaborations around the city have The Incubator stamped all over them and one in particular is the colourful pianos we featured in the Peter Williams issue last year. “We were asked to paint one piano, we said we’d do three and we ended up doing eleven.”
A new exhibition space has just gone in and as Simone explains, it’s for emerging artists looking to showcase their work. “It is incredibly difficult to get your work into a gallery, so we wanted to provide something that catered for that.”
Behind the exhibition space are the studios of the resident artists. Wandering between them is like being in an underground cave and each one is completely unique; paintbrushes, tools and inspirational musings are crammed in like organised clutter.
The Artery
Simone leads me into the Artery, the recently acquired building next door that they use for art classes.
“When the government axed night classes in schools, people no longer had anywhere to go. We saw a huge gap to fill that creative space. These are bite sized, achievable classes, often run by our resident artists and the connect people in a social way as well as a creative way. It takes them out of isolation. Most people walk away with connections, having made new friends.”
The classes range from one day to six weeks, and cover printing, painting, ceramics and more. Classes are always changing and information is kept up to date on The Incubator website.
Time to Visit
“The Village comes alive every second Sunday and we wheel out our stage and local musicians perform. It astounds me that aside from the bar and pub scene, there’s nowhere for musicians to meet, so this is another way for us to provide that opportunity.”
Once again I walk away feeling inspired and it’s wonderful to see this space that Simone’s team have created for artists to collaborate.
“It’s not just about the Incubator as a place, it’s what we want to achieve. We want everybody to up the value of arts within the community. Art is not about retail or income, it’s about a way of life.”