Varied and plentiful, it includes an impressive literary heritage (now recognised through the city's recent elevation to Unesco City of Literature status), a strong dance and theatre network, film and documentary makers, numerous visual artists, craftspeople and designers, and a significant music community.
Within each of those fields there exist many disciplines.
Our literary canon includes writers, poets, playwrights, essayists, historians, and songwriters; our dance scene is eclectic, with groups and individuals performing everything from ballet to contemporary dance, hip-hop to tap, Irish and Scottish, to the range of Maori and Pacifica dance forms celebrated in the likes of Polyfest.
Our visual artists comprise printmakers and painters, potters and ceramicists, jewellers and sculptors.
In our diverse musical scene, classical musicians and opera singers live and work alongside rock, pop and folk musicians.
This large, varied and vibrant community would not exist were it not for support: from pivotal institutions such as the University of Otago and the Otago Polytechnic, and within them respectively the likes of the Department of Music and Dunedin School of Art; from many other organisations like NHNZ, libraries, schools, retail outlets, the council, and many smaller enterprises, groups, teachers, venues, patrons, sponsors, media and audiences and various individuals.
In times gone by especially, the city's isolation made such support and collaboration vital, and no doubt contributed to its unique qualities - this was certainly the case when it came to the ''Dunedin Sound'' born in the 1980s in the pre-digital era, where a tight-knit music community combined to create and foster the innovative distinctive sound which became part of the city's identity and filtered out to be embraced elsewhere in the world.
Those heady days, and their spirit of collaboration and invention, were in full display in the Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday night, in the triumphant Tally Ho concert.
The event was an orchestral reinterpretation of the Dunedin Sound and some of its songs, performed by locals or those with a local connection: the Southern Sinfonia, conducted by Peter Adams, and featuring soprano Anna Leese, young singer Kylie Price, and University of Otago performance music students Molly Devine and Metitilani Alo, along with Graeme Downes (The Verlaines), Martin Phillipps (The Chills), David Kilgour (The Clean) and Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits).
The event had its genesis in conversations between Downes - a senior lecturer in Otago University's music department, whose composition, teaching and performance work bridges what is often viewed as a classical/rock divide - and Roy Colbert, a long-time Dunedin music supporter/promoter through his former music store.
There can surely be few places in the world where such an event was even conceivable, and few people who could bring it to fruition.
Downes, and all those involved along the way, should be commended.
The event brought together people from all walks of life, and music lovers of different genres in a true celebration of arts, music and community.
Dunedin too should be commended for embracing the concept and selling out the town hall.
French artist Henri Matisse is quoted as saying ''creativity takes courage''.
We should be proud of those brave enough to try new things, often at no small risk to themselves.
If we can continue to harness our spirit of courage, innovation and collaboration, we can continue to make our province's biggest city a great one - and not just in terms of artistic endeavours.
A positive forward-thinking attitude is vital as we consider our future - two versions of which were highlighted in a report released last week titled ''The Future of Work: Dunedin'', by the University of Otago's Business School.
That report envisaged two very different scenarios for the city by 2030 - a bleak one in which we stagnate, lose more business and our population remains about 120,000, or a bright one in which we have a multicultural population of 200,000, where businesses are encouraged, thrive, and bring more employment opportunities, and flexibility strategic thinking and - you guessed it - ''collaboration'' are key.
Now that sounds like the key to success.
