Trust will promote arts in Central Otago

The Central Otago District Arts Trust will hold its first meeting at Central Stories today.

The Central Otago District Council agreed to fund the trust, initially for three years, in response to an appeal from the local arts community.

Co-ordinator Maxine Williams said the trust would help promote arts in the region.

"Although Central Otago is a big region and quite remote in some areas, we have the potential to have an extremely dynamic and progressive arts community."

"We aim to bring together people with shared interests in the arts in order to encourage activities that cross disciplinary divisions, to exchange knowledge and inspire creative partnerships, she said.

"There is increasing awareness that the arts play a crucial role in improving the health and social wellbeing of communities," Ms Williams said.

"We know that regions with strong arts opportunities are more vibrant and attract more business and tourism."

One of the trust's first projects will be the establishment of the centralotagoarts.com website, which will contain a database of artists, venues and information.

The trust is also planning a Central Otago arts trail "Not only will the new website be an amazing asset for the artist, it will be a portal for visitors to the region and showcase the arts in Central Otago to the rest of the world," Ms Williams said.

The membership of the Central Otago District Arts Trust is John Buchanan (chair), Lisa Strang (treasurer), Kathi McLean, Jillian Jopp, Liz Kempthorne and Jan Bean.

The first trust meeting today will start at 5.30pm at Central Stories in Alexandra.