Scott Kennedy Creative

09/06/2024

What a memorable stretch of life! It's great to finally be able to talk about the projects I've been working on! They've been so varied, which I love. As a creative professional, I've always known that my strength is my ability to thrive in different roles. Often, it's the pathway where those roles intersect that I find myself. And LUMA was no different.

This year, I worked on three major projects:

LUMAteer Manager - LUMA Queenstown relies on volunteers to function, and this year I took on the task of recruiting, training and managing the team. Ultimately, we had 188 LUMAteers - all working hard to make LUMA 2024 something special!

Altitude Brewing LUMIFY Project - the amazing folks at Altitude commissioned me to create an art piece to transform the taproom for LUMA. We worked together on a few ideas and in the end settled on a Mirror Ball Beer Keg and an outdoor projection screen. It was a great collaboration and happily the 'Disco-Keg' will live in the Tap Room permanently.

Last and certainly not least - I played an EchoKnot DJ set in the Rose Garden. It was incredible to re-imagine our music as a soundscape to fill such a beautiful spot - bathed in smoke, light and lasers - truly unforgettable.

So what's next? Relaxation? Nope - no rest for the wicked! Stay tuned for some new and exciting stuff on the boil, including some out of town events, more creative projects and some other cool things I can't quite spill the beans on!

As always - if you are looking to collaborate on the sort of stuff I've been working on, or anything else - get in touch!

Photo credit: Altitude Brewing LUMA Queenstown Adrian Nankivell, Photos by Leigh

EchoKnot

04/06/2024

It's been an exciting, and busy time. My favourite festival of the year LUMA Queenstown has just wrapped up and it was AMAZING. This year I had the great opportunity to play an even bigger role. I was back again playing EchoKnot music, this time as DJ set under the massive tree in the Rose Garden - which was absolute magic. I was also helping to deliver the festival by cordinating and managing the volunteers - all 185 of them! It was a brilliant time and I'm already excited about next year!

29/04/2024

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22/04/2024

Have you checked out Te Wāhi Toi the creative directory and event planning site for the Queenstown Lakes? If you do, you might recognise someone...

Te Wāhi Toi/The Arts Place exists to connect the creative community of Queenstown and Wānaka with audiences, students, teachers, spaces and each other. We are a not-for-profit organisation powered by Three Lakes Cultural Trust and inspired by local arts and culture.

17/04/2024

Thanks to Jesse and the RNZ team for giving me the opportunity to chat about my Moonlight Monday adventures and other walks to be done here in Queenstown. Follow this link to listen to the interview

Today for Heading Off we meet Scott Kennedy who's been walking the Moonlight track after making an online pledge, but he's also a number of other accessible and fund walks around Queenstown which he shares with Jesse.

15/04/2024

Want to hear me tell the Moonlight Monday story? Well, if so you are in luck. Tomorrow at 1.45pm (NZ Time) I'm going to be on (Radio NZ) RNZ with Jesse Mulligan to have a chat about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We'll also have a yarn about walking around Queenstown and a few other things I'm sure.

24/03/2024

It's always a real pleasure to have my words and images published in 1964 mountain culture / aotearoa . This one is especially meaningful for me. Many of you would have followed along with my Moonlight Monday adventures last year. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to look back on the whole adventure. Sometimes even the winding path can look like a straight line in the rearview.

"Trace a finger around your absurdity, do something for the sake of doing and do it every damn week. Commit to something and see who comes out of it at the end. Doesn’t matter what it is; move, make, find stillness or seek the light that flickers inside. Give it fuel, let it grow and never let it go out."

1964 is on shelves locally in Aotearoa and via subscription globally.

26/11/2023

Recently I lead a discussion of the inaugural Deep Design Summit on how to create a more creative community here in Queenstown, NZ. I wanted to share some of the key points with you all:

1) Appreciate WHO we are - did you know that Queenstown was the second largest creative community (per capita) in NZ!??! - let's celebrate that!

2) Think about WHAT you would like to see more of here - more creative groups, festivals, events?

3) What can we STEAL? What have you seen elsewhere that you'd love to import into Queenstown?

5) What is the Queenstown X-FACTOR? What makes our creative community and our events unique? What makes them only able to happen here? Lean into those!

6) What can YOU bring to the table? Do you run events, make cool posters, have a zillion contacts, make a mean Old Fashioned - bring it to the table!

7) STOP thinking this is something you have to do for free. Our time and skills have value, a growing and maturing creative industry means that our creative businesses thrive.

8) Waiting for the council, government, big business, outside interests or 'somebody else' to make a difference isn't going to happen - or at least not fast enough. DISRUPT, be bold, make things happen now, even if it's a small splash, from little waves, big waves form.

9) You aren't caught in traffic, you are traffic - it's up to me and to you to make change - so what are WE waiting for?

21/11/2023

I was out surfing today and it reminded me of a really important creative lesson. Timing is crucial in surfing AND creativity.

The life of any project is like catching a wave. If you wait too long to paddle into it, you’ll miss the wave. If you go too early you’ll get caught in no-man’s-land and get taken out by the other surfers as it crashes on top of you. If you don’t have courage to paddle, you’ll never know if you can catch a wave and if you try and catch them all, you’ll be too tired to actually surf that perfect one.

So before your next creative project - pause, plan, get the timing right, and paddle like hell. It might just be the wave you were dreaming of.

Photos: post surf selfie, board on the beach before my session.

20/02/2023

Some background on my piece RED and how to score it for… FREE

This 20min lopping video installation asks the viewer to look, to really look. When we measure time in minutes and seconds change can feel slow. When we measure it in lifetimes, it's moving faster than we can see. This is a FREE digital download, courtesy of the artist.

14/02/2023

Hey everyone. If you are a Queenstown person come along on Thursday evening - the Queenstown Art Society has a new show opening at Te Atamira. It's a really diverse group show and I've got a video installation piece as part of it. I don't want to give away the game quite yet, but the piece is a conceptual look at the nature of time and change... Hope to see you there - Mount Edward Winery & Patagonia Chocolates are sponsoring the night so it'll be a tasty evening!

03/01/2023

Updated studio tour! Studios is my creative home - it’s filled with gear, comfort, memories and more than anything inspiration and possibilities!

23/05/2022

Some fresh work at Te Atamira!

12/04/2022

Beach memories. Riverton sunset .nz

29/03/2022

Home studio upgrades! Better speakers, a bigger desk - my happy creative space :-)

20/03/2022

Pelican case packed for a trip to the beach. Old and new. GoPro and film, light meters and digital guitar amps. 75yr old cameras and wireless chargers. What a time to be alive.

13/03/2022

Hello old friend. Time to shoot some film.

26/06/2021

As an events professional I have the privilege to work on events that are cool, events that are fun and sometimes events that are an honor to be a part of. Today was definitely the later. I was truly honored to be asked to be the Stage Manager for the memorial service for the absolute legend Sir Eion Edger. It was a beautiful service, put together with love, grace and heartfelt emotions. Kudos to all involved.