"Creativity is contagious, pass it on”
Albert Einstein
At Creative Matters, we believe the seed of creativity lives in all of us.
Our range of education based art workshops nurture that creative seed.
Our workshops are not just opportunities to make art, they are much more than that. Our creative workshops teach and encourage a way of thinking, a way of working, a creative approach that can be taken and applied into every aspect of a child or educator's life.
As parents, caregivers, grandparents and/or teachers we want the very best for our kids.
Creative Matters is here to provide creative, educational opportunities to enrich the lives of our children.
Mandy Jakich
Founder and CEO
I am the proud mother of Tayla and Brodie. I live at Muriwai Beach in Auckland NZ with my darling husband George and our treasured dog Mazzy.
I have taught for more than 25 years, in various capacities, at primary and intermediate schools across Auckland. I also worked for 4 years as an art educator at the Auckland Art Gallery - New Zealand's largest and finest gallery - where I designed and delivered visual arts programmes to primary, secondary and special needs children, as well as Professional Development courses for teachers.
I founded Creative Matters in response to an increasing need and demand for rich, creative opportunities for children - both in and out of school - with a genuine belief in the value of creative experiences and the creative process.
Four and a half years on, Creative Matters has blossomed into a well known company with a team of 18 passionate art educators and 2 administrators. We have 25 creative workshops for children after school across Auckland as well as creative workshops every school holidays at two venues (and growing!). We facilitate Developing the Creative Process Professional Development courses for both Early Childhood educators and primary teachers.
To date we've taught more than 200 creative workshops, worked with more than 2000 children, teens and adults and over 200 teachers. We deliver our programmes in Auckland in schools, community venues, at Kohia Centre, University of Auckland and at Studio One Toi Tu.
We believe creative opportunities should be accessible to all children and apply for funding to support this.
We also believe in creating and facilitating creatives to produce artwork in communities and public spaces.
Meet The Team
Testimonials
My two sons have loved their classes with Mandy and her Creative Matters team. Creative Matters produces excellent, educational and fun projects that captivate the kids imaginations. Our boys' bedrooms are decorated with their masterpieces and we’ve even framed some of them! We can’t recommend Creative Matters more highly.
Melo Newton
Creative Matters has allowed my daughter to really engage with her creative mindset. She can explore her personal creativity within a guided setting, resulting in amazing work but also learning about artistic techniques and mediums, art history, problem-solving and how to complete a longer project whilst maintaining her ultimate vision. She also has a lot of fun. Creative Matters really brings an element to my child’s learning that she does not get anywhere else and we highly value all it has to offer.
Nicky Osmond
My son always loves being in a Creative Matters workshop. The tutor is such a loving, caring and inspirational teacher, it was one of the best activities my son has had for years. The class is such a relaxing environment and a great space for imagination to thrive.
Soohee Dong
Both my girls have attended creative matters classes from Year 1 through to year 6 and have absoultley loved their learning, creations and teachers. Now I see them looking at all sorts of day to day objects throuh different artistic lenses. They are always beaming after class and have done some really incredible work in all shapes and forms over the years. I find their class environment safe, caring, postive and a diverse creative outlet for them which I can not recommend highly enough.
Jo Mellor
My daughter has attended numerous school holidays sessions at Creative Matters as well as the term classes. She absolutely loves going and always comes home with marvellous creations. The classes are well structured and the teachers are wonderful. Would highly recommend to anyone.
Chantelle Meyer
My two girls have attended many Creative Matters after-school and holiday programmes for the past four years and I can thoroughly recommend them. The teachers are all really caring and put a lot of effort into engaging and developing student creativity by building on what personally inspires them. I love that it seems to be about the reflective process of making art, not just the beauty of the product at the end (although, many of the works that they bring home are amazing!). A truly high-quality children's activity.
