Earlier this year, Baycourt Community & Arts Centre Manager James Wilson moved into a newly created role at TCC.
Following his departure, Reena Snook stepped into the leadership role and is now at the helm of our city’s premier performing arts facility.
While new in the role, Reena is a known face in the performing arts industry (and not just at Baycourt). She began her foray into the arts 20 years ago as a “wide-eyed drama school student, fresh out of high school”.
She has held various senior arts and venue management roles for close to 15 years at Auckland Live (the largest performing arts centre in Aotearoa), before relocating with her whānau to Tauranga in 2018, where she took on a new challenge as Tauranga City Council’s Event Development Manager. Oh, and somewhere in the middle, Reena also enjoyed time at the NZ International Comedy Festival as production manager.
As she celebrates three months in her new position, we asked Reena a quick-fire Q&A to better understand where things are at and where they are headed for Baycourt and the arts sector.
What is it about the role you enjoy? i.e. what gets you up in the morning?
I love the complex and unique process that’s involved in bringing a show/event/arts project to life, and the lasting and positive impact that it can have on its audience.
It’s a privilege to be part of that creative journey and to support local, national and international practitioners and companies achieve their own artistic goals.
What does your day-to-day entail (for people that might not be familiar)?
I’m not sure that any day is the same to be honest, but I have spent the majority of my time getting to know the dedicated team that sit behind the curtain at Baycourt and learning about Baycourt’s colourful past and present.
My day can involve anything from assisting my team with a variety of interesting and unique challenges, meeting our community and commercial hirers, liaising with key service providers, reviewing venue hire agreements, attending performing arts huis, collaborating with colleagues and stakeholders to explore new and exciting opportunities for our clients and audiences, and, of course, seeing as many shows as possible!
What are some of the challenges facing the arts / events industry?
I don’t think anyone can ignore the lingering impact that COVID-19 is having on the arts, entertainment and events industry.
Travel restrictions continue to limit the international programming opportunities for New Zealand venues/promoters etc. and the additional level of financial risk to present work in this current environment is proving to be a very real and insurmountable challenge for some.
COVID has undoubtedly demonstrated the resilience of the arts industry and its practitioners, but there continues to be historical challenges that the sector is still trying to navigate – in particular, the disparity that exists between the arts and sports industries in Aotearoa, in both a financial/investment capacity, as well as profile/’airtime’. We have certainly seen a positive shift in public perception, but there is still progress to be made to address the inequality that exists between these two important sectors.
We recognise that we’re in a privileged position with Baycourt being Council operated. There are many other venues across Aotearoa that have really struggled with COVID – from those that are run as independent trusts coping with loss of revenue, to those run by Council where there is not necessarily a good understanding of why arts venues are vital to a community.
Tauranga is in a very strong position in terms of Council valuing what we have with Baycourt, hence why it’s important for us to pay it forward and support, nurture and advocate for the sector and our hirers where we can.
How has COVID-19 impacted our value and love for the arts? I would argue it is what got most of us through lockdown and think people have a new appreciation for it, but would you agree?
Completely agree. One of the upsides of the pandemic has absolutely been the renewed interest in arts and entertainment experiences (#silverlinings).
It’s widely acknowledged that our industry has a positive impact on the economy (the Ministry for Culture and Heritage estimated that the performing arts alone contributed $2.3 billion to the economy in 2018) but more importantly, through this pandemic we have seen a groundswell of public understanding that the arts, in all its forms, is also a strong and essential contributor to social and cultural wellbeing.
This sentiment is also endorsed by Creative New Zealand’s recently published New Zealanders and the Arts 2020 research, which provides a three-yearly benchmark for New Zealanders’ engagement with the arts over time.
The comprehensive research identified five key insights:
- New Zealanders are more positive than ever about the vital role the arts play in our lives.
- The arts are making a powerful contribution to New Zealanders’ wellbeing, and are helping us get through COVID-19.
- More New Zealanders appreciate the arts’ powerful role in connecting whānau and communities, but access to the arts could be improved.
- The arts are helping more of us explore and build our own sense of identity, as well as growing our connections with other New Zealanders.
- Attendance has declined but participation has held steady, and how we want to experience the arts is changing.
For the first time, Creative New Zealand has also produced dedicated reports exploring Māori, Pasifika and Asian New Zealanders’ relationship with the arts, as well as New Zealanders with lived experience of disability and their direct experience with the arts.
What are some of your goals / plans for the next six to 12 months?
For the next six to 12 months, we’ll be doing a lot of mahi internally to get our whare in order. This often isn’t the shiny new stuff that our community gets to see, but we’re pretty hyped about it nonetheless!
This work will include focussing on some of our back-end processes to better support the great shows and events that we have a privilege to host, as well as developing a strategic vision for Baycourt that puts its diverse community and artistic industry at its heart.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Not strictly Baycourt-related, but I consider it relevant to this korero: As mentioned, Baycourt’s previous manager, James Wilson, has recently moved onto a new role at TCC.
This newly created position was established to elevate the profile of arts and culture in Tauranga, not just on a national level but also (and importantly) in the way that TCC recognises and supports the local industry. We are both hugely encouraged by the recent $750,000 commitment to fund arts, culture and heritage initiatives/projects in the city through Council’s Long-Term Plan.
James and I continue to work closely together as we navigate through this very exciting time for our sector in Tauranga.
What’s on at Baycourt? Find out here.
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