Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

The crowds flocking to the waterfront to see, touch, and connect with the Hairy Maclary sculptures says it all.

I've seen kids reading Hairy Maclary books with their parents in so many places throughout the city since the statues were revealed a few weeks ago.

The statues of Hairy and his friends have shown what public art can create for the city. It's more than just the bronze statues. Thank you Tracey Rudduck-Gudsell and the Creative Tauranga Board for keeping the project chugging along when times got tough.

The public art policy that the new council established this year will help steer a path for future public art proposals.

Council has established an independent panel, made up of members of the public, to give us advice on public art ideas for the city. The policy provides some checks and balances to ensure the ideas suit the environment, it's not offensive, and there's agreement on how it will be maintained or deaccessioned in due course.

I personally think the city can get more value-for-money out of public art than continually institutionalising art, enclosing our arts and culture within expensive buildings. I welcome artists to tell us about their public art ideas that may challenge and spark a conversation amongst passers-by.

The city doesn't have a vision for what the city wants to achieve with arts and culture, let alone public art. The SmartArts Strategy that the previous council put out for consultation was a mess. It didn't have any direction, and it included things such as establishing a CBD hotel.

A strategy for the city's arts and culture has been sitting on Tauranga City Council's to-do list for a while. I hope the other elected members are keen to facilitate this strategy with our fantastically passionate creative sector soon.

Feel free to email me your thoughts (matt.cowley@tauranga.govt.nz), call/text me on 0276989548, and follow me at www.facebook.com/a.younger.voice.