Art classes an 'amazing' outlet for homeless in Auckland

RNZ News

20-05-2025

This time last year, Scott San Quentin was living rough in and out of hostels and sleeping under a bridge in Auckland.
He is unable to work as he recovers from the long-term effects of a cycling crash which left him with concussion but now has housing and is attending weekly art classes at Homeground where he paints.
"It's given me a different space to put my mind in. The biggest benefit is because you're completely engaged in what you're doing now with your art, you're not focused on what's happened in the past or what's going to happen in the future," he said.
"That's really helped with my anxiety, to bring it down."
Scott San Quentin with one of his works.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
About a dozen people attend Toi Ora Trust's free weekly art classes at Homeground and their works are going up for sale.
Eight of San Quentin's artworks are in the exhibition, and they are on display at Auckland's City Mission this Wednesday and Thursday from 1-7pm.
Many of those attending the classes have experienced homelessness, addiction or mental health struggles.
San Quentin said he found housing with the help of the city mission's outreach team last September, after six months on the streets.
He said he has made good friendships in the classes, run by Toi Ora Trust with support from the Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust.
"Art is a great equaliser, it doesn't matter which background or where you've come from in life you can always find common ground. That's a really good thing with the art class, it really helps you find a common thread."
"Art is a great equaliser," Scott San Quentin says.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Auckland City Mission's pou whirinaki Anoushka Berkley said people from many backgrounds were finding ways to tell their stories through art.
"They're in there to find a way to express themselves creatively and as a result of it they're also building community, they're finding connections to other people," she said.
"It's been really amazing watching the different friendships. For me a measure of a good day in this space is to hear laughter."
Some of the works go on sale today.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Each week, Josh Thomson goes along to the classes as peer support, to be a sounding board and encourage the emerging artists.
He has been in recovery from addiction since 2023 and knows what it is like to be homeless and find refuge in art - for him, it was drawing.
"It was one of my ways of escaping when I was in my addiction, I used to love drawing. Drawing for me was definitely a way for me to escape everything else."
Thomson said the art classes at the mission have encouraged those attending to explore Auckland for inspiration.
"The ones that come in week in week out, you'd see them in the laneway out here together plotting to go to the museum or the library together. It's amazing, I feel really fortunate to be a part of it."
Phil Tu'u is among the class attendees. He has three artworks in the exhibition and said the classes were confidence-building.
"The people, the positive vibe. I'd describe this as a family. It's always a joy to come here and see people getting involved and encouraged by one another's gifts."
As the paint brushes swish, there's korero.
Ahead of the government budget announcement, San Quentin said he would like to see more investment in mental health.
"There needs to be a lot more money invested in mental health. In the last 20 years in New Zealand we've seen a lot of cutbacks. I go to a lot of the community meals in the city and you can see the effects of those continued rollbacks."
He said he meets people who have fallen through the cracks and cannot access the healthcare or housing the need.
Thomson said he had to jump through too many hoops to get access to stable housing and he wanted the government to cut the red tape and invest in more housing for people who needed it.
"Definitely would be around housing, food security, things that I've gone without in the past and it's seemed impossible at the time to access those things."
Toi Ora Trust emerging creative arts therapist Bailey Wiley said at the art classes, the struggles of the past or the day ahead were in the background.
The artists were finding a voice through creativity.
"I've been incredibly impressed by their creative artworks, I'm quite moved by what emerges in front of us."
She hopes to see red stickers going up on the artists' works - the exhibition is open today and tomorrow at Homeground.
"We hope that there will be red stickers going up and we really do hope that the artworks sell because primarily the fee goes to the artists."