Meet Our Creative Tutors

Kereama Taepa studied for his Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts at Massey University in Palmerston North and continued to gain his Masters degree. His involvement in the arts has been broad and varied, becoming a bronze technician at the Dibble Arts Foundry and participating in various national Māori arts symposiums, workshops and hui.

He… Read full profile

Riley mainly teaches the graphic design courses at Toi Ohomai and specialises in teaching techniques and design skills for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. He finds this very rewarding and looks forward to meeting students and helping them to reach their creative goals.

Riley is also a bit of an all-rounder and has taught many different… Read full profile

Joanne Donovan is a New Zealand-born textile artist and craftsperson. Her background is in printmaking, with her textile design work extending to a mixed media approach between digital print, felt, stitch, dyeing and techniques often inspired by vernacular craft. 

Joanne completed a Master in Arts and Design with first-class honours in… Read full profile

"I’m lucky to be able to teach in an area I’m very passionate about – music," says Toi Ohomai creative tutor, Ben Wilcock.

Ben holds a bachelor’s in Music and his work as a composer and performer has appeared on more than 30 albums.  

He also co-founded Thick Records NZ and performed at a number of big music festivals around the… Read full profile

Kyle teaches visual arts, design and creative technologies at Toi Ohomai. He's a multimedia artist and musician with a Master of Visual Art from Wintec.

His recent work has focused primarily on sound and video as well as exploring the influence of rhythm and flow on the human experience.

He has a keen interest in alternative music… Read full profile

Dale is a creative arts tutor for the Bachelor of Creative Industries, with a particular focus on graphic design, from print based to screen-based outcomes.

Prior to joining the Toi Ohomai whānau, he spent three years working in the bustling city of London. The highlight of his career was working in the UK where he joined a global… Read full profile

Nicole is the Academic Leader of Arts in the Business, Design and Service Industries faculty at Toi Ohomai.

She's been a practising artist and master printmaker specialising in fine arts screen printing for the past 25 years and has taught tertiary art and design for over 20 years.

"I love the way my career enables me to be active… Read full profile

Donna teaches the Fashion Design major within the Bachelor of Creative Industries at Toi Ohomai.

She holds a Bachelor of Design from Otago University and a Master of Design from Auckland University of Technology.

"I love learning about cultural influences in art and design and sharing my knowledge with students and aspiring… Read full profile

Darcell teaches visual arts, moving images, collaborative projects and cultural theory at Toi Ohomai.

She has a keen interest in exploring identity in relation to legacy and storytelling, and ideas around how the body operates in social and cultural contexts.

Apart from being a creative and teaching, Darcell is passionate about… Read full profile

Anne-Marie is a tutor for the Bachelor of Creative Industries and the Certificate in Art and Design courses at Toi Ohomai.

After graduating with a Diploma in Clothing and Textiles from Wellington Polytechnic and a Bachelor of Art and Design (Fashion) from Otago Polytechnic, Anne-Marie knew she'd wanted to share her knowledge with others… Read full profile