Te Auaha Campus’ Final Bow
There’s a tangible shift as you walk through Te Auaha, the New Zealand Institute of Creativity. From the custom made waharoa, to the six floors of specialty spaces reserved for performers, beauticians and artists, the space breeds innovation and creativity -- even the building’s security guard sits strumming away at his guitar.
At its 2018 opening, WelTec council chairman Greg Campbell said the building captured “the spirit of Wellington in one location”.
Just eight years later, that spirit is now being extinguished. Yet another loss for the arts.
In the wake of the Government’s reforms to polytechnics and the disestablishment of our largest vocational education provider, Te Pūkenga, the Te Auaha campus is set to close at the end of this year due to declining enrolment numbers.
RNZ reported that this year, the campus never reached its goal of 1000 students. Now, the polytech is running at a budget of just over $12 million. This is a large decrease compared to 2024’s nearly $19m budget. Nearly a dozen programmes and 60 staff positions are being cut alongside the building’s closure.
When the school opened in 2018, it was a joint venture of Whitirea and Weltec, aiming to house Wellington's creative disciplines. Students could study a range of subjects from Performing Arts, Hair, Makeup, Digital Art and Media, Writing, Circus, Music, Television and Film.
For first-year Performing Arts student Jess Curry, it’s been daunting not knowing what’s next for her and her peers. She says, “It’s already a scary time in one’s life that first year out of home starting university. It feels incredibly daunting. You want security to know you’re going somewhere or will have a certain title by the end of it.”
In February this year, students received an email notifying them of a potential building change. It wasn’t until late May that they found out through media reports that the building was officially closing. With the fate of their degree left up in the air, it took days until they heard from a Whitirea representative.
Musical Theatre students were told the course would be phased out: third-years could still graduate with a degree, second-years the same, and first-years could finish up to the diploma. The course will be fully closed by the end of 2026.
Having grown up in Wellington, Curry remembers coming to productions at Te Auaha and looking forward to attending the school herself. “It was always the plan, I looked forward to coming here all through high school. It always felt like it represented Wellington, beyond just the Performing Arts.”
“Being a part of an institution where arts is not just important, but actually the priority. Where emotion and creative expression is placed higher than academic standards has meant so much,” she says.
Security guard Bill, who has welcomed guests since the building’s opening, says he was gutted about the closure.
“It’s a real big shame what’s happening,” he says.
“Mainly I feel upset that it’s closing, for the tutors and students that have been taught and learned here. Some have only just started, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to them.”
But staff member Jerry* saw this coming, saying poor planning and misplaced funding doomed the venture from the start.
“I think it’s indicative of a group of idealists who have got great ideas but don’t logically back it up with common sense,” Jerry explains. “They’ve put all this money here and they haven’t backed it up with the support to get students into the building.”
What was once designed for creativity, innovation, and artistic excellence is now listed on the Colliers website as an “utterly unique office space opportunity”. It’s become another arts facility set to meet the same fate that so many long lost Wellington venues face when they reach the chopping block.
A recent Massey University study shows that every dollar spent on live performance generates $3.20 for Aotearoa’s wider community. Overall, the research found that over one year, the live performance sector contributed at least $17.3 billion in social and economic value to New Zealand (year ending June 30th, 2024).
Massey professor Dave Carter who led the study says it is live performance organisations, like Te Auaha, that are neglected.
Carter says, “It’s a real shame because that’s the part of the sector where new work gets created. If you invest in that it’s like a compost tip – you put the good stuff in and you bury it in the soil and that’s the thing that really nurtures the new growth and the new artists.”
Not only does the arts help financially, but mentally. Carter’s study found that attending live performances leads to a 20% increase in one's wellbeing, and a 7% long-term boost. It noted the more shows attended, the greater long-term benefits.
Creative organisations across Aotearoa have been feeling the heat for years. Massey University has been in the process of restructuring its College of Creative Arts, leaving some staff cut, and facilities hired out to outside companies. And two years ago, Victoria University’s Theatre and Music programmes narrowly escaped cuts after intense backlash from students.
The closure of Te Auaha is more than just a loss of a building. It’s the erasure of a space where young artists have found their voice and where audiences have witnessed brilliance emerging. Ultimately, it’s where Wellington’s reputation as a creative capital becomes more than just a slogan, but a reality.
As 2025 comes to an end, students are taking their final bows as they showcase their last artistic endeavors at the school. As the curtain closes, Wellington applauds them. It's an ovation not just for the students, but also the teachers, the staff, the building, the legacy, and all the individuals that continue to fight for the survival of the arts in Pōneke and Aotearoa at large.
*Name changed for anonymity