Púuna
Arts & Cultural practice supporting families
Púuna- To grow in a circle.
Púuna is a Community Arts and Cultural Development practice creating spaces where children, young people, carers, families and communities can make, connect, play and grow together.
Púuna means “to grow in a circle”, drawn from lead artist Lia Pa’apa’a’s Luiseño language and connection to her family in Southern California. It speaks to a way of growing that is collective and relational—where knowledge is shared, care is reciprocal, and no one grows alone.
Our work responds to the realities of raising families in a modern world where connection to community, culture and creative practice can be increasingly difficult to find.
Grounded in Lia’s experience as part of a global Indigenous diaspora, with roots across America and the Pacific, and through years of working alongside First Nations communities across Australia, Púuna brings culture, creativity, care and community together.
Carers are the first curators.
Long before children enter formal education or other systems, they are learning through the people and places around them.
Through making.
Through food.
Through play
Through story.
Through the ways we care for one another and oursleves.
Púuna recognises Carers as First Curators—the people who shape the environments, experiences and cultural worlds children grow within.
Our work creates opportunities for families and communities to reclaim, revitalise and reimagine these everyday practices.
Making is Medicine.
From weaving and textiles to food, play and shared creative experiences, we believe making can be a powerful form of connection and care.
We work with communities to create culturally and creatively safe spaces where people can participate, lead, share knowledge and see themselves reflected.
Our work spans early childhood, families, young people, artists, educators, organisations, festivals and communities across regional, remote and urban Australia.
We make space for culture.
We make space for creativity.
We make space for connection.
Welcome to Púuna.
“Púuna creates spaces for families to slow down, connect, and make together. Because making is medicine, nurturing wellbeing, relationships, and community care.”
What we do
Who We Are
Púuna is a Gimuy-based creative practice working across regional, remote and urban Australia.
We work with and for communities—from babies and children to young people, carers, artists, educators and families—to create culturally and creatively safe spaces where people can come together, make meaningful things and share knowledge.
Our practice sits at the intersection of Community Arts and Cultural Development, early childhood, family life, cultural knowledge and creative practice.
We believe creativity belongs to everyone.
It doesn't need to happen inside a gallery, classroom or theatre. It can happen around a kitchen table, on Country, in a playspace, at a festival, in a workshop or within the everyday rhythms of family life.
Our Practice
Púuna is guided by a simple belief:
People already carry knowledge. Our role is to create space for it to be seen, valued and shared.
We draw on creative practice, cultural knowledge, play, food, making and storytelling to create experiences that strengthen connection and belonging.
Our work is grounded in:
Making as Medicine
Creative practice can support connection, wellbeing, expression and healing.
Carers as First Curators
Carers play a powerful role in shaping the cultural and creative worlds children grow within.
Advocacy through Play
Play is a space where children and young people can lead, imagine, question and express themselves.
Collective Nourishment
Food, creativity, culture and care are interconnected. Nourishment is both practical and relational.
Intergenerational Wealth
Knowledge, skills, stories, resources and creative practices can be passed between generations and become part of our collective inheritance.
Culturally Safe Spaces
We create spaces where people can see themselves, their families, cultures and communities reflected and respected.
Growing in a Circle
Púuna is not about creating for communities and then leaving.
We work collaboratively, building relationships over time and creating opportunities for communities to shape, lead and carry the work forward.
Our practice is responsive to community and Country.
We are interested in what happens when children are recognised as artists and cultural leaders, when carers are supported as creative practitioners, and when cultural knowledge is treated as a living and evolving practice.
Púuna is about creating the conditions for people to grow—together.