Taupo District Council - Public Art Policy

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Arts and culture are essential to the health and well-being of society.

Like any essential service they should be available to all people, regardless of circumstance, ncome, or race.

POLICY

To recognse and preserve the natural beauty of our environment.

To recognise that arts and culture are an important part in the economic activity of the Lake Taupo District CommunitY and its visitors.

To recognise that art and culture are an essential ingredient to the well-being of our community.

To promote the Lake Taupo District as a central location for the development of cultural and artistic 'pursuits.

To acknowledge the distinctive cultural heritage and encourage the continuing development of the arts in the Lake Taupo District.

To recognise the uniqueness of all ethnic groups and their cultures and to appreciate the special status of the Ngati Tuwharetoa as Tangata Whenua.

CULTURE

WE DESCRIBE "culture"" as "a dynamic force that holds the community together through communication, decisions, how families are structured, how we express values towards land and time and our attitude to the way we live. Culture is the term used to refer" to the systems of meaning and value that underlie the social life of a group of people".

ARTS

WE DESCRIBE the "arts" as "essential activities at the centre 'of human existence, creative expressions which collectively, as culture make us human. Art is a creative activity expressed through work, the extension of human performance, the shaping of thought and emotive expression".