ABOUT
Home Ground is a collaborative creativity and wellbeing initiative for women who have experienced incarceration or are engaged in the justice system.
The initiative is divided into four projects – Tahi, Rua, Toru and Whā, which are delivered in the Wellington community or Arohata Prison over a 12-month period. Each Home Ground project runs full time for three weeks, then one day a week for the following four weeks.
The Ministry for Culture & Heritage Manatū Taonga selected Home Ground as one of the Creative Arts Recovery and Employment Fund (CARE) recipients. With this new funding we can now provide three additional CARE workshops. Our three CARE workshops will be in the Kāpiti coast, Te Tairāwhiti Gisborne and Pōneke. We will connect up the dots between communities, supporting local arts, artists and creative spaces to grow our Home Ground whānau.
Home Ground projects use creative arts practice, such as theatre, photography, writing and music, as a non-threatening, strengths-based approach to self-empowerment, community connectedness and wellbeing.
Artists both inside and outside of prison are encouraged to create art projects that talk about the issues women and whānau face in the justice system.
Thanks to our funders, especially Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Creative New Zealand and the Department of Corrections. Previous projects have been supported by St John’s In the City: Edward Carter Fund, the Sonja Davies Peace Award, Heather and Brian Main and the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
Vision
Women in the justice system discover their value and purpose through the power of creativity.
Purpose
Women are empowered to activate social change and create better lives for themselves, their children and future generations.
Mission
Provide the space and opportunities women need to explore their artistic talent, engage in creative processes and access high-quality arts and artists, and support them to create healthy, happy homes.
Promise
To enable women to safely learn about themselves and their life stories through creativity.
Guiding principles
Creativity matters
Do no harm
Nothing about us without us
Honour the wisdom of lived experience
Strength through connectedness
Trust the process
Our team
The Home Ground practice model was created over four projects facilitated by creative director Jacqui Moyes and clinical director Anita Grafton.
Meet our team of facilitators who will be with you at your workshop.
Jacqui Moyes
Creative Director | Project Manager | Lead Facilitator
Jacqui co-founded Home ground in 2019. Her current work as the Creative Director has been focused on upskilling the wider Home Ground whānau, whilst securing contracts for other mahi that speaks to the Home Ground kaupapa.
Jacqui is a staunch advocate for the arts, and specialises in community development through creative collaboration. Jacqui has worked previously as the Arts in Corrections Advisor for Arts Access Aotearoa, and as an advisor to the Chief Censor of the Office of Film and Literature Classification. Jacqui has experience mentoring families engaged in social services, delivering and designing prison arts programmes, coordinating arts events and has a background in community performing arts.
Jacqui’s ability to collaborate with a range of incredible people allows her to do the work she does. She also has a firm belief in ‘do no harm’ and ‘nothing about us without us’. These guiding principles help to keep her projects safe when facing the challenges inherent in the justice system. Jacqui works hard to support creative opportunities and the benefits that come from them.
Roseanne Leota
Creative Advisor | Policy and Administration | Fellowship Recipient
Solosolo / Fagaloa / Gagaifoilevao / Guangzhou / Nuku’alofa
Roseanne started her journey with Home Ground in the Pilot Programme – Kahukura, then a Tuakana role with creative writing, now as creative advisor and administrator. Creative arts in the Home Ground space for Roseanne is about encouraging and supporting women to explore and express their authentic selves.
Roseanne became part of the core contracting crew in 2023, and coordinates our projects.
As the inaugural recipient of the Whakahoa Kaitoi i Te Ara Poutama Arts in Corrections Artist Fellowship 2023, Roseanne was able to explore and research the development of her creative writing processes and abilities, with the support of an arts mentor. She successfully completed the fellowship, and created a stunning collection of poetry. Malo le galue, Malo le taumafai.
Anna Wooles
Creative Producer | Online Facilitator |
Anna has found her home within Home Ground since early 2020. She is a jack of all trades, master of none: shapeshifting her varied expertise from project to project. Anna has developed her role, from artist to creative producer to online facilitator.
Before Home Ground, Anna was the Senior Creative at Koko Creative - a diverse role which involved seeing productions from design and concept right through to delivery. It included leading the art department, designing spaces, programming music, poring over spreadsheets and the occasional fixing of Lucha Libre matches. Other work endeavors have included supporting a basket weaving project in Kenya, teaching music in Malawi and Kenya, volunteer fire fighting in Malawi, and wrangling musicians on tour in Ghana.
Outside of work Anna is with her son in the garden or performing in a band called Ida Lune or trying to finish the same book she's been reading for the past 7 months.
Amira El Orfi
Production support | Co-facilitator in training | Social media
Amira started at Home Ground as a workshop volunteer, making “the best sandwiches” – quoting lots of people, capturing photos, curating playlists to set the tone and supporting the facilitators. She finds joy in being of service to something she believes in.
She is a seamstress, having experience in costume for films, styling music videos and having her own clothing label. When designing she takes inspiration from her North African culture which she also uses to connect and learn more about, as well as learning Arabic. She hopes to incorporate these aspects of herself into facilitating art workshops and connect with the diverse local community.
As of recently Amira has taken the reins on our social media marketing to promote the awesome mahi of Home Ground and our artists.
TeAue Pene
Co-facilitator in training | Emerging Artist
Ngāti Raukawa
Ko Wai Au..
Ko Tararua te Maunga..
Ko Manawatū te Awa..
Ko Tainui te Waka..
Ko Ngāti Raukawa te Iwi..
Ko Ngāti Rākau Paewai te Hapu..
Ko Motuiti te Marae..
Ko Rākau Paewai te Whare Tupuna..
Ko Kuia Kūpapa te Whare Kai..
Ko Te Rauparaha te Tangata..
Ko TeAue Mere Joesphine Pene Ahau..
TeAue Pene, an emerging artist and community leader from Ngāti Raukawa, joined a facilitation team in 2023 after completing several Home Ground projects. She uses her love for the arts in all its forms to express herself creatively through visual art, kapa haka and community leadership. She supported the online delivery of 'Kotahitanga,' a weekly online creative classroom delivered to the Home Ground community around the country.
Pip
Visual Artist | Tuakana | Fellowship recipient
Ngāti Porou I Te Aitanga a Māhaki I Ngāti Hako
Pip has been with Home Ground since the very first project in 2019. As a visual artist, Pip can see, hear and feel an artwork through what others share with her. She has spent the last five years developing her art practice with the Home Ground collective. Pip was recently awarded the 2024 Whakahoa Kaitoi i Te Ara Poutama Arts in Corrections Artist Fellowship: to explore painting, using natural materials from Te Tairāwhiti and the Wellington area, reconnecting with whenua (land) while learning the kaupapa behind painting with whenua.
Sharn
Co-facilitator in training | Emerging Artist
Ngāti Porou
Ko Hikurangi te maunga
Ko Waiapu te awa
Ko Horouta te waka
Ko Ngāti Porou tōku Iwi
Ko Rāhui tōku marae
Ko Sharn tōku ingoa
As a valued participant in multiple Home Ground projects, Sharn now shares her creative spirit as an emerging artist and co-facilitator in training with Home Ground. Her natural ability to raranga both words and harakeke, showcase her generosity with wāhine through the knowledge she learns and imparts.
Vane Vivas
Creative support | Co-facilitator in training | Art Therapist in training
Vanessa’s (Vane) eternal love connection with art led her to pursue a Bachelor in Fine Arts (Sculpture) which she completed in her hometown of Bogota, Colombia in 2015. After a few years of adventures in places far from the Andes, uncomfortable encounters with art, and lots of overthinking she realised that creativity is the biggest gift for self-care and self-exploration. A gift that she thinks needs to be re-discovered by as many people as possible.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, and hungry to dig deeper into creativity and it’s beautiful relationship with the self, she decided to start her studies in Art Therapy in Aotearoa. She is currently in her second year of the Masters degree in Creative Arts Therapies (Clinical) at Whitecliffe.
Vane’s journey with Home Ground began in 2023 as she reached out to volunteer while taking a break from Uni. Vane has now found a home with us, and is excited to join HG in 2024 as a Co-facilitator in training and Creative Support – hoping to apply her learnings and contribute to the community.
She firmly believes that Art and creativity can change lives.
Anita Grafton
Clinical Director | Mental Health & Addictions Specialist | Clinical Facilitator | Counsellor
Anita, our much-loved friend, colleague and inspiration passed away in October 2020.
Anita had a real commitment to incorporating creative approaches to rehabilitation and recovery. She was the Director and Principal Counsellor of Time to Talk, a therapeutic counselling company that provides counselling along with mental health consultancy.
Anita was a graduate of the University of Salford (UK), where she received a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences, and had many years experience working within education, mental health and addiction services in England and New Zealand.
In 2013 Anita became clinical manager of the Drug Treatment Unit at Arohata Prison, and was responsible for streamlining and improving efficiency of services, as well as providing alcohol and other drug counselling support for over 100 prisoners. Anita led the team that received the Highly Commended award from Arts Access Aotearoa for creativity in prisons in 2016.
After leaving the Department in 2017, Anita went on to manage an addictions service within the Wellington community. In 2019 Anita graduated with a degree in social services with a major in counselling and received the distinguished alumni award for work in her field in 2020.
We miss you Anita.