Director of Spark Centre of Creative Development

Suzanne Vesty Dip. Drama, Grad. Dip. Tchg (Secondary: Art & Art History), M.F.A.,M. App. Sci.SE (Distinction), Registered Celebrant, Civil Union Celebrant, A.Th.R., Prof. Mem. ANZATA.

Suzanne has 30 years professional experience as an adult educator, therapist, supervisor and mentor. Her early training was in action based, experiential modalities (including the performing and expressive arts).  She was the Founding Director of Wings (1988 – 2002), a private school in creativity centred human development; since this time Suzanne has continued to offer intensive retreats in transpersonal arts therapy. She has conceived and directed experiential programmes within all manner of community context working extensively with individuals and with groups. Her work concerns the power of creative thought and endeavour to grow people in their perceptions, thinking and behaviours.  She is also a practising visual artist and regularly exhibits her work. In her role as the Director of Spark Centre, she provides a wealth of experience and knowledge; she holds a passion for creative expression, visual art education, arts practice and art therapy as offering a life changing, life enhancing experience to Spark artists.  As Senior Art Therapist she heads the Spark art therapy team in developing innovative programmes for the stroke affected, and for their partners. She leads Spark Centre in developing a more expansive range of creativity based services for people of diverse needs and life experience.

Finance Administrator

Diana McPherson

Diana comes to us having worked in financial roles across a number of different organisations and has been involved in various voluntary concerns.

In her role at Spark Centre, Diana is responsible for all things financial and IT related. She loves working in a vibrant creative area and says that Spark Centre provides a wonderful opportunity for people to express themselves.

Public Relations Advisor

Heather Vermeer, BA Hons (English Language & Linguistics), Post Grad Dip( Journalism)

Heather originates from Yorkshire, England and brings her experience in public relations, charity sector development and journalism to the team.  Joining Spark Centre in July,  Heather is excited to be working in a creative setting and is keen to put her energy into helping to develop the organisation and its funding streams through building partnerships and diversification. She has been inspired by the innovative, valuable work Spark Centre is involved in and recognises the importance of creative expression in developing as individuals and as a society.   Heather is looking forward to growing the organisation’s profile and promoting a wider awareness of, and funding for, its work.

Website and Online Co-ordinator

Allyson Hamblett BA, Dip Libr, Nat. Cert. Computing (Level 2 & 3)

Allyson  has been involved with Spark Centre for 9  years as an artist,and joined the team in 2006.   She has cerebral palsy, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Education from Auckland University, and a Diploma in Library and Information Studies from Victoria University of Wellington.   Allyson began  a two year term of the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) of the Auckland Region of CCS Disability Action in October 2010.  She is now the chairperson for the Local Advisory Committee.   She’s worked on a number of boards over the years, focussed on social change and advocacy.

Studio Co-ordinator

Arie Hellendoorn, BFA, Dip Ed
Arie  graduated in 2007 from Massey University with a bachelor of fine arts, and in 2010, graduated from Auckland University with a post graduate diploma in Education.  Arie enjoys working in a creative environment, with a diverse range of people. He has exhibited widely within New Zealand, in public and private galleries such as the Christchurch City gallery, Enjoy gallery, Suite gallery and The Michael Hirschfeld Gallery. Arie’s current interests within painting look at the conventions of portraiture and representations of the human form, the resolution of his works is determined by resolving a series of decisions throughout the painting process, rather than painting a predetermined idea.

Art Tutors

Ian Moore MFA

Ian is a practicing artist, and has works in several collections. He has studied a wide range of techniques with various professional artists and has a Master of Fine Art from RMIT, Melbourne (2004). He has always worked with paint and art materials both commercially with signs and graphics and as a fine artist. Ian has a wide knowledge of theory and practical application of various art media. He provides the opportunity for Spark students to engage in a wide range of art making, providing creative, practical and technical skills to empower and enable students to realise their own potential art making.

Lea France BA Psychology, Dip Graphic Design

Lea is a trained graphic designer, having worked in the industry for over 20 years. She is also a practicing artist and enjoys working with a variety of art media. Lea set up and facilitated a young widows support group in the late 90′s and was inspired by the intensity of healing incurred through the process of art making. Her love of working with people and art has led her back to school where she is currently studying towards a Master of Art in Arts Therapy at Whitecliffe School of Art and Design. Lea has worked in the disability sector for 7 years and has been fortunate to have worked on such projects as ArtOut which is an art programme for children with disabilities and their siblings. She is very excited to have been given this opportunity to work with the team and students at Spark Centre.

Sacha Kronfeld BFA, Grad. Dip. Tchg (Secondary)

Sacha Kronfeld graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1995, majoring in printmaking. After finishing a Post-graduate Diploma in teaching she taught art to secondary school students, working as a sole charge teacher at St Marys College and later at Waitakere High teaching Art History and painting to senior students. During these years she continued to develop her work as an artist exhibiting at Oedipus Rex and in various group shows. Sacha has long been interested in personal development and involved herself in numerous related activities including completing a preliminary year to a Masters in Psychotherapy at AUT, participation in major creativity development programmes with Wings, and extensive training in yoga. In more recent times her creative life has been consumed by the birth of her two children Manawa and Malia. Sacha is excited to be a part of the Spark team and is drawn to teaching Art in an environment where creativity is about community, is inclusive and is therapeutic in approach.

Abi Raymond BVA, M.A.A.T., Cert. counselling theory

Abi has spent the last seven years studying and researching into visual arts processes, counselling theory and arts therapy.   Abi has a passion for working creatively and therapeutically with people with diverse life experience.   She has a particular interest in working with and developing creative therapy interventions for children with ASD both in group contexts and one to one.  She has completed a clinical master’s thesis that explored
art therapy and group approaches for children with ASD as effective methods of increasing communication and social engagement.  She received funding from Creative Communities to run therapeutic group art making sessions with children with ASD in 2011,   which has been highly successful.   People and their stories fascinate her, this curiosity inspires many of her creative projects that document, investigate and reveal personal narratives. Abi was extremely excited to join the Spark team in August 2009, allowing her to assist and experience alongside the artists at Spark the power of the creative process. She gets great pleasure observing the determination and bravery of the artists at Spark and sharing in their delight of their achievements, creative self-expression and personal development.   Abi has been employed by Spark Centre as an Arts Facilitator / Health Care Worker/ Student Liaison since 2009.