Te Auaha, a new state-of-the-art creative campus is set to open in Wellington, offering a world-first Bachelor of Creativity while encouraging interaction between creative disciplines.

The new school on Cuba Street will officially open on Monday, 26 February. Te Auaha is a joint venture between Wellington regional tertiary institutions Whitireia and WelTec, and will be based in an innovative six-storey campus that can accommodate up to 1000 students.

Te Auaha Director Victoria Spackman says the school will produce a new generation of entrepreneurs, job creators and skilled workers for New Zealand’s creative industries. Creative disciplines on offer include digital media, music, performing arts (dance, circus, acting), toi poutama (weaving and carving), film production, visual arts, jewellery making, make-up, hairdressing, journalism, publishing, and writing.

“It’s estimated that New Zealand’s creative industries employ over 40,000 people and contribute around $3.8 billion to our GDP. Te Auaha is here to produce the next generation of creatives to grow that industry – but we’re also preparing young people to have an impact on our wider economy.”

The new campus has been designed as a series of interwoven creative spaces to encourage creative interaction and cross-fertilisation between disciplines, helping develop a generation of more collaborative creative professionals. Students are encouraged to take electives outside their core disciplines and required to complete a final year collaboration between any combinations of the disciplines on offer.