Kia ora, hello and welcome to the third edition of Toi Oho, the newsletter for Ara Toi!

In this edition we share some of the results of our work to secure the future of professional theatre in the city following the sad demise of the Fortune Theatre, as well as an update from Film Dunedin Co-ordinator, Antony Deaker, on his work developing Dunedin’s growing reputation as a place to make film as well as a superb location for film makers.

But first I would like to introduce our fully-fledged Ara Toi team. Many of you will have noticed the appearance of Ara Toi and City of Literature branding on the large windows under the Civic Centre on George Street. The Ara Toi office can now be found behind these windows. We have found a small budget to grow our team’s numbers and defining individual roles so they are closely tailored to the delivery of the Ara Toi strategy. The new team comprises:

Kirsty Glengarry – Relationship Manager – responsible for managing the team, for creative industries initiatives and strategic projects.

Cara Paterson – Relationship Advisor, Arts and Culture – responsible for developing and managing our relationships with the creative community and agencies external to the City Council.

Lisa Wilkie – Relationship Advisor, Council Initiatives – responsible for ensuring that Ara Toi remains firmly connected to the wide range of Council departments and projects that relate to the arts and culture sectors.

Anne Shelah – Administrator, Ara Toi – providing support to the team and Group Manager across the full range of our work as well as running our office.

We share our office with UNESCO City of Literature Director, Nicky Page. This means that we can ensure that our projects in the cultural space are developed in close association with each other.

We look forward to welcoming you to our new offices and working with you to support all the great work that you are doing in Dunedin, one of the world’s great small cities!

Ara Toi Group Manager, Nick Dixon