The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts is delighted to be able to host Vincent’s Art Workshop for the celebration of their 40 th anniversary in Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre alongside the exhibition of the entries and finalists in the Academy Prize for Visual Art.
Vincent’s Art Workshop is a fantastic award-winning art studio in downtown Wellington that celebrates diversity and welcomes all – whether you have done a lot of art or none at all. And it’s free! The Academy congratulates it on 40 wonderful years.
An essential social service set up in 1985 in response to policies of deinstitutionalisation from psychiatric hospitals, Vincent’s Art Workshop is the oldest Creative Space in New Zealand. It is a community-based initiative providing access to arts and craft facilities, skilled tuition, and materials within a supportive environment.
People with disabilities or those moving into the community from institutions, or unemployed, or on low incomes; anyone at all from the wider community is welcome! An average of 30 people use the workshop every day, and all work together to make Vincent’s an exciting and creative place to be.
Through this creation of a positive and supportive environment, many people have found their involvement in Vincent’s to be therapeutic. It offers a unique model that uses the creative process to help resolve the internal conflicts a person may be experiencing, enabling the development of self-esteem and individual potential.