MIX

14/01/2026

And indeed why arent we doing more art?

At Arts Access Aotearoa, we know that the arts benefit our health and wellbeing because the arts are integral to our lives. We've also experienced transformative moments and have read the research.

And now we're queueing up to read "Art Cure: the Science of How the Arts Transform our Health by UK scientist Professor Daisy Fancourt. This very readable book includes chapter headings such as "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever"; "Help me if you can, I'm feeling down"; "Get into the groove"; and "I will survive".

And finally, it asks and answers two questions: "Why aren't we doing more arts?" and "How can we fix things?"

Check out our list of research findings and scroll down to the heading "UK: How the arts can transform our health"
https://artsaccess.org.nz/Research

ID: Collage of three images:
1. Cover of Art Cure (detail)
2. Kākano rangatahi paint a public mural
3. Jolt performer and tutor Joel Foreman working with a dancer seated in a wheelchair

08/01/2026

Beautiful day beautiful beach beautiful Kai and beautiful company 🌞

08/01/2026

We are back to our usual time table next week, meanwhile we're on that summer holiday vibe here at MIX

07/01/2026

Happy New Year to you all !
May 2026 be a prosperous & peaceful year and remember to pause, breathe and be kind to yourself
❤️ from the MIX whanau

14/12/2025

We love collaborating with Pablos Art Studios Inc and contributing what we can to help them grow. We look forward to more collaborations in 26

MIX artist Daniel Phillips had a busy evening drawing portraits of visitors at this year’s Pablos Art Auction, held in November at Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand in Wellington.

28/11/2025

On Fridays we like to get out and visit places that inspire us. This morning, we started with some fresh air at Petone Beach, soaking up the scenery, then popped into Alfred Memelink Artspace Gallery on the Esplanade — one of our favourites for local art inspiration.

After that we headed back to MIX and spent the morning painting watercolour scenes of Petone Beach. Such a great way to end the week!

26/11/2025

A massive thank you to for giving the opportunity to Daniel Phillips to do what he loves doing best - creating people's portraits and making them happy
What a wonderful event is the annual . Congratulations on putting on such a successful evening

21/11/2025

A massive thankyou to Wellington Museum for hosting us and providing a tour on our Thursday outing. For lunch we made our way to Frank Kitts park to enjoy some kai in the sun. have a great weekend everyone :-)

18/11/2025

We had a creative morning in our 'Cooking Skills' session today, playing around with recipes using up bananas. We ended up with a delicious banana cake (using oil instead of butter) with an orange icing and our very own MIX creation of banana, apple and orange muffins. Yum!!🤩

Does anyone have any other great ideas for using up old bananas? We'd love to hear them. 🍌

17/11/2025

A Mindful Monday stroll along Pet-one foreshore. A stunning day 🌞

22/10/2025

Fresh from the Lower Hutt Art Trail, Louise Thomas now has a selection of her paintings and photographs on display in the Hutt Art exhibition at Benedict’s Café, 141 Dowse Drive, Maungaraki.

An award-winning painter, wildlife photographer, and writer, Louise is exhibiting works in acrylic and oil alongside several striking bird photographs. Her popular annual bird photography calendars are available at the café (she even sold one while her and David Bibby were setting up the display!), together with a range of A3 and A4 prints.

Louise’s paintings have been acquired by private collectors in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, while her captivating bird photography has been published internationally, featured on the cover of the annual NZ Bird Survey, and used on park reserve signage, as well as contributing to eBird and the Merlin Bird ID app.

Recent accolades include the 2024 Judge’s Choice Award, 2024 People’s Choice Award in the HAS Annual Exhibition, and the 2025 Best Representational Award from the Hutt Art Society, the latter for her portrait of fellow HAS artist Sandy.

HAS members interested in exhibiting at Benedict's Cafe are encouraged to get in touch with David or Barbara Bibby.

18/10/2025