Waitakere City can claim many of the country's finest professional painters, photographers, sculptors, writers and musicians, and a wide spectrum of recreational artists working in every medium. The area's relationship with the visual arts can be traced back from ancient objects, through to the early European painters such as Charles Blomfield and Frank Wright to many modern exponents including Don Binney, Colin McCahon, Tony Fomison, Lois McIvor, Stanley Palmer and Glenda Randerson. Waitakere City can claim many of the country's finest professional painters, photographers, sculptors, writers and musicians, and a wide spectrum of recreational artists working in every medium. The area's relationship with the visual arts can be traced back from ancient objects, through to the early European painters such as Charles Blomfield and Frank Wright to many modern exponents including Don Binney, Colin McCahon, Tony Fomison, Lois McIvor, Stanley Palmer and Glenda Randerson.Likewise, many important New Zealand writers have chosen the west of Auckland as the setting for classic Waitakere poems and novels. Who can forget Alan Curnow's 'Lone Kauri Road' or Maurice Gee's 'Going West'? As an active patron of the arts, Waitakere City Council organises community arts events such as the Going West Books and Writers Festival, the Trash to Fashion Awards and assisting Lopdell House Gallery.

This community is supported by a strong arts infrastructure centred on Lopdell House, and around two active Community Arts Councils serving the Henderson and Titirangi areas. From 1991 there has been a consistent arts advocacy voice in Waitakere City Council's decision-making about the potential for collaborative arts participation in all city development projects. A strong practice of involving artists in all city projects is now in place. The new arts and cultural strategy formalises the arts practice that has been developed for the city points the way to potential growth and development over the next ten years.

Laureates to reflect city's vision Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey fi rst mooted the laureate idea in 2004 following a conversation with his friend (and favourite westie poet) Sam Sampson. "We talked about a programme that would lift the vision of artists and give honour and thanks to artists who had contributed to this city's diversity and fabric," he says. "Criteria for choosing our laureates was deliberately kept as wide as possible. Their work will refl ect the vision, values and cultural diversity of this city. Our magnifi cent new council chambers and civic centre is a shining example of all that is the very best of Waitakere, symbolising a new heart and future for the west, showcasing our aspirations as a 21st century modern city propelling us in the future. A future that comes after a rich history of creativity in the west - of artists, writers and wanderers.

"The Waitakere Ranges have always been Auckland's back drop. In the west - once called wild - we have a willingness to accept diversity and change. Waitakere will retain its lushness and soul while adding an economic and technological edge to our Eco City which has come of age," says Mayor Harvey.

The Waitakere Overture, composed by Brigid Ursula Bisley, was commissioned by Mayor Bob Harvey especially for the laureate award dinner and was performed by Waitakere City Orchestra at the laureates' ceremony. The overture celebrates the beauty and magnificence of the Waitakere Ranges and the West Coast beaches, and also the coming of age of Waitakere City.

The images of the bush and wild west coast are the starting point for this work... they refer directly to the sensory, visual and auditory aspects of this place as well as being metaphors for its human aspects: a place of contrasts, sunlight and gloomy wet bush, calm sea and violent undertow.