Getting to know... Annie Pokel

As Nelson Art Festival’s Head of Creative and Communications, Annie Pokel is a busy lady with the upcoming Arts Festival kicking off next month. She talks to us about always saying ‘yes’, her favourite place for dinner and winter swims.

At the weekend you’ll find me...
By, and ideally, in the ocean! Māmā Moana does wonders for my soul so I try to get in as much as I can. This year, I promised myself to swim through winter and so far, I’ve been swimming every weekend.

I will never shut up about...
Art and how much we all benefit from engaging with art. I cannot wait for October to see Whakatū come alive with amazing artists and creativity from all over Aotearoa for this year’s Nelson Arts Festival. We’ve got some amazing things planned, and it makes my heart jump with joy to witness how people are moved and excited by an exhibition, a performance or a seemingly small art activation that crosses their path in the streets.

At a party you’ll find me...
Either in the kitchen chatting and laughing away with someone for hours (best place to be at every house party!), or dancing.

My real-life superpower is...
May I have two? My enthusiasm and my empathic ability to make connections. I’m a real ‘yes!’ person and for the most part, I think that is a great way to be – exploring new ideas or getting stuck into a project someone I care for is passionate about. Plus, I enjoy meeting people and believe there is something special and wonderful about everyone that I’d like to find out about. My favourite thing to happen is when I can connect two people with bright ideas and talents, and then witness how they connect and go off to do great things together or enable one another.

My most irrational fear is...
Swing bridges. They freak me out.

I’m going out for dinner to...
Arden. Definitely my fave place for kai and company – many a project has been started here over a negroni or two!

My simple pleasures are...
Sitting in the sunshine with a cup of coffee and either a good book or a friend to chat away with. Sneaking out for a swim at lunchtime. Driving somewhere with my best friend and the music turned up. Walking with Pixie. Feeling the wind on my face when riding my bike downhill. The smell of freshly mowed grass.

I hope in ten years Nelson will be...
A most liveable, community-oriented city that is leading the way with urban regeneration, a flourishing arts and creative sector and a vibrant, green, car-free CBD full of public art and places to come together and connect with others. I hope that in ten years, the Free Range Arts Collective living sculpture project my friend Katie Pascoe and I are currently working on, HeartWood, will be a thriving micro-forest sculpture in the heart of our city, and that Whakatū will be bursting with visitors to experience all the amazing cultural and creative events our city continues to offer.