Allowing creativity to shine
16 November, 2010 Arts Access Aotearoa’s new executive director, Richard Benge, rates working as a director with the Victorian Theatre of the Deaf in Melbourne as one of his greatest learning experiences.
“We were working with movement and theatre that communicated not only with the Deaf community but beyond it. That was the point: to create theatre that crossed boundaries, opened doors, established more understanding between people.
“What really interested me was being able to take an artform – in that case movement and sounds and rhythms – and communicate across all levels of people’s abilities. People who could hear, see, feel all got the point of the work.”
Richard has taken over the role of executive director of Arts Access Aotearoa from Marianne Taylor, who is moving with her family to Tasmania.
Another defining experience for Richard was working as an artist-in-residence in psychiatric hospitals in Victoria and Queensland.
“A lot of the work was getting people together to tell stories or celebrate an event using role and costumes. They entered into the creative process and felt good about being there. It was almost like having a creative holiday.”
Powerful tool
The arts, he says, “are a powerful tool for triggering our mental processes in a positive way, helping us recognise our strengths and capacities.”
The same rehabilitative benefits apply in prison arts.
“If through art and creativity prisoners feel better about themselves and what they have to offer, hopefully it will lead to better, more positive choices.”
Richard grew up in Wellington before moving to Melbourne where he studied for a Bachelor of Education, majoring in drama and English literature.
He has worked for arts access agencies in Victoria and Brisbane on artist-in-residence programmes for psychiatric hospitals and special needs communities, as well as art projects for Sunnyside Hospital in Christchurch.
Richard has managed Old St Paul’s in Wellington for the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, and as a self-employed events, marketing and public relations manager directed several Wellington Christmas Parades and was involved in events such as He Taonga Te Reo (The Year of Maori Language) and the 50th anniversary of New Zealand citizenship.
Cultural affairs specialist
His most recent role was cultural affairs specialist with the United States Embassy in Wellington. He managed the cultural and performing arts components of the annual New Zealand and American cultural exchange programme. Projects ranged from a contemporary blue grass band tour to Samoa to arranging professional development visits for New Zealand composers and visual artists to the United States.