Toi Ora Live Art Trust

18/12/2025

And that's a wrap for 2025! ✨🎄🎅

We finished the year with some festivities. Our Toi Hono class took a field trip to the beach, and an Artist Christmas Party 💜

16/12/2025

HUMANS OF TOI ORA: MEET JULIET JACKSON

Juliet Jackson’s art is full of colour, movement, and words. Losing her sight later in life hasn’t stopped her from creating; if anything, it’s led her to adapt and expand her artistic practice.

Juliet has developed inventive ways to continue painting and drawing.

“To keep the form of nature, people, and creatures that I’m drawing or painting, I have a few ways of adapting,” she explains. “I am constantly remembering which colours and strokes have been put on a page. I also use a technique where I put down balls of blue tac; one piece could show the top of the head, the next the chin, and I’ll work my way through a piece putting down blu tac to keep my forms correct. Otherwise, you could have an elephant with a huge trunk and a small body!”

Her art station is organised by feel. “All my colours stay in the same places — blues from darkest to lightest, greens, yellows, and so on. None of them move.”

Read Juliet’s full story on our website:

Juliet Jackson’s art is full of colour, movement, and words. Losing her sight later in life hasn’t stopped her from creating; if anything, it’s led her to adapt and expand her artistic practice. A lifelong passion for art Juliet grew up in Auckland and studied painting at Elam before later mov...

14/12/2025

You don’t need a paintbrush to be creative.

Creativity can show up in how you write a report, plan a project, or even lead a team meeting.

On The Seeds Podcast, Susanne and Steven talk about how everyone can bring creativity into their everyday life, and why it matters.

🎧 Listen here:

Toi Ora Director Susanne Ritzenhoff sat down with Seeds podcast host Steven Moe to talk about the transformative power of creativity, how perfection can lead to inaction, and how everyone can incorporate more creativity into their day to day. Listen to their interesting conversation on the Seeds web...

10/12/2025

Our Paint Now class visited the Pop to Present exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery. 🎨

They saw the iconic 1948 drip painting by Jackson Po***ck and drew inspiration from patterns, layering, and abstract techniques. 💜

A great field trip! ✨

08/12/2025

A big congratulations to our Paint Now artists for your exhibition at Toi Ora! We loved it 🥳

P.s. Some of these are available in our gallery shop: https://toiora.org.nz/shop/

04/12/2025

🎉 Big congrats to Zet for winning the 2025 Toi Ora T-Shirt Design Competition! We love their design which features Matariki stars, a planet and alien like creatures.

"I’ve always loved the facade, and as I became more and more part of the community of Toi Ora, the sight of the building developed a deeper meaning for me.
The characters were inspired by the people I’ve met during my time at Toi Ora, who have become my friends, collaborators and inspiration. We all feel like aliens in our own different ways, but at Toi Ora our differences are what brings us together," says Zet

These tees would make such a great Christmas present - support our artists and buy a gift that gives back. 🎁💚

Buy now in our shop: https://toiora.org.nz/product/2025-toi-ora-t-shirt-designed-by-zet/

30/11/2025

“Toi Ora gave me structure and community when I felt like I was on the outside.”

When life’s storms come our way, art is our anchor. 🌊

Watch more of Ross’ story: https://toiora.org.nz/art-is-our-anchor/

26/11/2025

We’re thrilled to welcome four new members to the Toi Ora board! 🌟

Each brings incredible skills, experience, and heart to our governance team:

Shea O’Neill – strategist and producer, previously curating the Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens and Splore Festival Arts Programme.

Dr Polu Apollo Taito – a leader guided by Pasifika values: “O le ala i le p**e o le tautua” (the pathway to leadership is through service).

Irene Gardiner – long-time journalist and television producer, now working in governance.

Tas Higgins – a public servant and arts advocate passionate about strengthening mental health services for Māori.

We’re so lucky to have you all on board. 💜

Find out more about our board members here: https://toiora.org.nz/about-us/our-people/

25/11/2025

Our Draw & Paint with a Twist class visited the Robertson Gift exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery. 🎨

They drew inspiration from 49 paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures from modern European great artists including Paul Cezanne, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso. 💜

It was a fun and inspiring day out!

23/11/2025

What do you feel looking at these two pieces of art? 🎨

Tearah’s waterfall and Felix’s lino print show the breadth of art created at Toi Ora. Both beautiful, and thought provoking in their own way 💜

13/11/2025

Congratulations to the Toi Ora Express and Paul Gurney who performed at the 17th annual October Gig at the Ponsonby Baptist Church. 🥳🥳

Always a highlight on the Toi Ora calendar, and raising important awareness about mental health. 💜

13/11/2025

💜30 years of creativity, connection and community 💜

Toi Ora started in 1995 when Carrington closed, and people with lived experience of mental health challenges missed the creative programme, and the boost it gave to their wellbeing.

30 years of creative pursuits, and countless lives transformed 🥰