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Shona McCullagh, the renowned artistic director, producer, choreographer, and short film maker, has tonight been awarded the Hynds Creative Entrepreneur 2015 Award at a gala event at Auckland’s Q Theatre.

Shona McCullagh, the renowned artistic director, producer, choreographer, and short film maker, has tonight been awarded the Hynds Creative Entrepreneur 2015 Award at a gala event at Auckland’s Q Theatre. Initiated by the Arts Regional Trust (ART) and sponsored by Hynds Group the Award brings with it a $10,000 cash award and most importantly further recognition for the pivotal role as a creative and entrepreneurial practitioner that Shona has played in the development of the dance community and audiences in Auckland and New Zealand.   

It was her enabling of others, alongside her personal drive to innovate, that prompted the Award judges Tara Pradhan and Charlie McDermott (the Hynds Creative Entrepreneur 2013 award winner) to select Shona as the 2015 Award recipient.

“Shona demonstrates incredible drive, tenacity, and a deep commitment to dance, and her passion for her craft is always at the centre of what she does and why she helps others. She has taken her considerable talent as a choreographer and practitioner of world class quality and has expanded it across genres and in many different settings.” says Tara Pradhan.

Fellow judge Charlie McDermott agrees, and adds that “Shona embodies and epitomises all the qualities of a creative entrepreneur. She has the drive and willingness to take risks to make change happen and create new opportunities – not only for herself, but for all those who participate in, study, and experience. The obstacles and challenges are often bigger in a lesser supported sector, but Shona has met these head on and driven innovation over many years, making her one of THE most influential changemakers in her industry.”

Shona was selected as the Hynds Creative Entrepreneur 2015 by the Judges from a shortlist of successful, entrepreneurial people working in a range of creative areas, who were nominated by their peers. Judge Tara Pradhan says Shona’s nomination is a reflection of how highly regarded she is by her peers and those she works with.

“Her ambitions for the sector are beyond herself, and are for the advancement of New Zealand dance in all its forms, in Auckland, nationally, and internationally. Through her entrepreneurial approach Shona has built a legacy, most lately through the NZ Dance Company, that will ensure continued development of the artform into the future,” she says.

Also presented at the ART Awards event on 17 February were places on the ART Venture programme to 14 creative entrepreneurs. The year-long ART Venture programme provides start-up and experienced creative entrepreneurs with a flexible yet intensive action-learning environment that, through peer-to-peer support, specialist coaching, a seed fund pitching process, and an innovative curriculum, accelerates the creative enterprise development of each participant. The value to each of the participants is $35,000, which represents the Arts Regional Trust’s commitment to and meaningful investment in Auckland’s creative future.

More Information:

About Shona McCullagh

Shona has choreographed many successful works for companies such as Limbs, Douglas Wright Dance Company, and The Royal New Zealand Ballet. She has also created work for theatre, television, and film, including sequences for Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring and King Kong, as well as Auckland Theatre Company's Equus, Sweet Charity, and Cabaret. A filmmaker herself, Shona’s screen works have achieved international recognition and unprecedented sales for New Zealand work featuring dance as a narrative medium. All three of her films have been given international awards.

Consistently pushing the boundaries of the dance medium, Shona has used cutting-edge software and interactive installations in her works. In the 2008 work Mirror Me, she utilised computer software to provide an interface between the viewers projected/live body. Shona has a strong entrepreneurial drive, actively seeking out new ventures and fields of artistic enquiry to expand her body of work. She is a passionate advocate for dance and performance in New Zealand and is a leader in her field.

Since founding The New Zealand Dance Company in 2011, Shona and co-founder Frances Turner have created a high-calibre community of dancers and artists, producing work for New Zealand and overseas audiences. Shona and Frances have gained wide support for The New Zealand Dance Company – from funders, dancers, and audiences alike. The company holds youth workshops, and is developing NCEA education resources for high-school students studying dance. The New Zealand Dance company is committed to making contemporary dance accessible and enjoyable for the wider public, as well as nurturing current dance practitioners alongside future talents.

Shona also runs a talent agency, the Human Agency, and a production company, The Human Garden. She choreographed the opening ceremony of the 1990 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2011 Rugby World Cup opening and closing ceremonies. In 2000, she became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to dance and in 2002 she received an Arts Foundation Laureate Award. In 2007 Shona was a participant in the ART venture programme.

About Hynds Group of Companies

The Creative Entrepreneur Award 2015 was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Hynds Group of Companies. The Hynds Group, headquartered in South Auckland, was founded by entrepreneurs John and Leonie Hynds in 1973, and has grown to employ over 600 people around New Zealand and Australia. Over the 40 years since the business was established, the Hynds Group of Companies has made an immense contribution to the civil construction sector. Ernst & Young New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, John Hynds was made an officer of the NZ Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to Business and Philanthropy in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List.

About Arts Regional Trust

Approach
Through its unique and innovative programmes and approach, ART is growing entrepreneurship in the Auckland Region’s arts, culture and creative sector to generate cultural, creative and economic outcomes that benefit the Region.

Programmes
ART’s creative enterprise development programmes back high-achieving creative people intent on growing Auckland’s cultural capital into rich creative, social and economic outcomes. ART’s programmes accelerate and maximise business and career development outcomes for participants, creating a confident and prosperous creative sector and wider community benefit, now and into the future.

ART : History
The City Councils of Auckland and Manukau created the Arts Regional Trust: Te Taumata Toi-a–iwi (ART) in 2000 to manage and grow their combined share of funds ($6 million) provided through the disestablishment of Auckland Regional Services Trust.

Since then ART has invested over $3 million since inception in the Auckland Region’s arts, culture and creative industries sector through the groundbreaking ART programmes: ART Venture, ART Source, ART Enterprise and ART Generator, as well as the very successful Survive & Thrive creative sector forum. The capital fund has grown to over $10 million (31 Dec 2014) under ART’s stewardship.

Media Release: Arts Regional Trust (ART)