our Purpose
To use creativity as a tool to improve the health and well being of older people and people living with dementia, brain injury or disability in New Zealand.
our Vision
Older people and people living with dementia, brain injury or disability are engaged in creativity, empowered and connected to their communities.
our practice
Our Make Moments programme is an art making and art conversation programme delivered by trained and experienced artist educators across Auckland. This programme supports our participants to explore themes in art that are relevant and meaningful to them. Our scaffolded art making allows each individual to experiment with materials and techniques to create their own unique artwork.
Make Moments has reached over 10,000 Aucklanders in public galleries, community venues, rest homes and retirement villages, over Zoom, and now in Connect the Dots’ own Studio at 354 Onehunga Mall. On average we welcome 3,000 people a year to our workshops!
Read more about Make Moments.
Our history
Connect the Dots Charitable Trust was founded in Auckland, New Zealand in 2014 to improve the lives of those marginalised in the community, by age, disability or poverty, through creative arts programmes. We have run art programmes with women of refugee- or migrant-backgrounds with textile art workshops; girls in low socio-economic communities who were soon to move into the challenges of adolescence; and older people living with dementia.
In 2017 we decided to address the disproportionate focus on arts and wellbeing programmes funded to support Youth in comparison to our seniors and those with early-onset dementia or brain injury / disability. We shifted our focus and resources to our Make Moments programme. Whilst there are more challenges to secure funding for this demographic, it remains our absolute pleasure to spend our time alongside our community’s elders and witnessing the positive transformation engagement in the arts can bring.
Our Onehunga Studio is bustling with activity and chat during the mornings with our Community groups (Headway House, Dementia Auckland) and is open to the public for our paid Adult and Children’s workshops in the afternoons and evenings. We hope that these paid programmes will encourage creativity in everyone while funding our charitable work.
Our Outreach programmes are still busy, with our Artist Educators working in libraries, community halls, retirement villages, and soon sports clubs across Auckland
