Welcome to Helen Kirlew Smith’s website
Helen is an arts advisor, producer & facilitator for events in public spaces and underutilised places.
Breaking down the barriers for people to engage with art and new ideas and support artists to be the best they can be is at the heart of what Helen does. She is also committed to collaboration, inclusivity and bringing a sparkle to everything she does.
Producer | Advisor | Facilitator
Highlights from past projects & collaborations
Other Projects
Other Work, side hustles and passions (currently under construction)
About
Helen is grateful to have worked with such brilliant artists and producers in the UK and NZ during her career.
Having graduated from DeMontfort University, Leicester in the early 1990’s with an honors degree in Live Art. Upon graduating she co-founded New Works Festival, an organisation that centered on promoting and supporting people to explore creativity at all levels. Sheila Ghelani, Lone Twin and Third Angel were just a few of the artists that performed their first shows there.
Alongs side the Festival, Helen co-established the National, New Work Network which connected, supported and provided training for live art practitioners from around the country. This led her to meet Blast Theory and Robert Pacitti to whom she then went on to work with – in an operational management and governance capacity – right up until 2005 when she moved to Wellington, Aotearoa.
With a short hiatus from the arts to fully immerse herself into the world of Playcentre as a parent, teacher and centre supporter, the last decade(plus) has seen Helen consistently facilitate hundreds of events and activations around Wellington each year. Either as a broker or producer with Urban Dream Brokerage and Letting Space from 2012, and from 2018 to 2024 as a place manager at Wellington City Council’s Waterfront and City Parks, Helen has worked with artists and producers to present events of all sizes.
Alongside arts and parenting Helen is a life long learner and fan of personal development. Not only does she love attending events but is passionate about designing and creating inspirational gatherings. This resulted in her co-producing and co-founding TEDxWellington (2012-2022). And alongside this, she worked for a short but incredibly inspiring time with Silvia Zuur and the Enspiral Collective on a number of projects.
“Helen is a true collaborator and considerate leader. She had multiple key roles establishing the partnerships in the successful TEDxWellington events as well as building a community along with the foundational charitable trust. Her insightful guidance and considerate governance over the years was one of the reasons for the impact we had. Highly recommended human!” DK, Creative Producer – https://justadandak.com
April 2025
