Josie Whelan: inspiring tamariki through art

An exhibition of artworks by Year 5 and 6 tamariki at Porirua East School has recently opened at my workplace, Pātaka Art+Museum in Porirua. Toi Rama Inspiring Tamariki Through Education is the culmination of a six-month project that saw our gallery educators work with the same group of local ākonga during Terms 3 and 4 this year – a pilot programme exploring the connections between art, artmaking and wellbeing.

Our education team met regularly with the ākonga, usually every fortnight, both at Pātaka and at other venues and their school. The aim was to stimulate creativity, well-being and self-confidence and to generate creative opportunities through engagement with artworks and taonga in the Pātaka collections and exhibitions, as well as at other Wellington cultural and heritage venues. Together, we’ve visited Te Papa Tongarewa, the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, to name a few. Te Taiao, the natural world, was also threaded throughout the programme.

As an art educator, I know that art has the power to transform; to inspire and to bring joy. It sparks something within us, both when experiencing an artwork and also while creating it. This programme was informed by a similar pilot that I designed and delivered in 2021 and saw first-hand the benefits for ākonga in Ōtautahi Christchurch. For our local context at Pātaka, and with the support and guidance of Tātai Aho Rau Core Education, I have applied what I learnt in Ōtautahi and tailored a programme just for our Porirua ākonga.

The Pātaka pilot is a unique educational opportunity for ākonga to develop their sense of wellbeing by seeing themselves as artists. This has been achieved through meetings with artists in the students’ own community – they got to see artists as real people, just like them – and by exhibiting the students’ own artwork in Toi Gallery at Pātaka.

The artworks exhibited in Toi Rama also demonstrate a range of techniques and artmaking processes and reflect identity; who the ākonga are, where they live and what their connection with the environment and each other looks like. The exhibition is a true celebration of their journey in the programme.

“The Toi Rama programme was an awesome way for our ākonga to connect themselves to the local area, their culture and themselves through art. The pride they felt having their artwork on display for everyone to see was great.” Ruth Mahupuku, teacher, Porirua East School.

It has been a joy and a privilege to work with this group of students and experience them developing deeper connections to their place and to themselves. Another personal highlight was a local bus tour with Steve Kenny, from Porirua City Council, and the opportunity to hear stories of the significant places for mana whenua, Ngāti Toa Rangatira. But there have been so many special moments, from the satisfaction of planting native trees together at Battle Hill Reserve to supporting ākonga to share their hopes and aspirations in their Waka of Dreams creations.

We couldn’t have embarked on this project without the support of our partners, in particular sponsor Trust House Foundation and many others, including Porirua East School, Porirua City Council Riparian Planting Team, Steve Kenny, Te Papa Tongarewa, the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Tātai Aho Rau Core Education, Enviroschools, Bush Sprouts Nature School and Grayley Plastics & Laser Cutting.

Following the exhibition, there’ll be a thorough analysis of our pilot programme. Our vision is that it is adapted and scaled-up so our education team can deliver it to more local schools.

Toi Rama: Inspiring Tamariki Through Art runs until 9 February 2025