The Arts Regional Trust was created in 2001 by the city councils of Auckland and Manukau to manage and grow a fund provided through the disestablishment of the Auckland Regional Services Trust. Under the name ART, over the following years the trust initiated a variety of programmes to support the arts, culture and creative sector Tāmaki Makaurau. These included ART Venture, ART Awards, ART Enterprise and Pulse.

At its founding, ART was gifted a te reo name, Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi by Sir Hugh Kawharu. The name references the many summits of Tāmaki Makaurau, the volcanic cones that define our isthmus, and the vantage points on which we stand to see our world. Metaphorically, taumata references the aspirations of our artists, and the landscape of support which enables the creative activities of our communities.

A whakatauki was also gifted by Sir Hugh: Whāia te toi huarewa o te auahatanga , hei kete toitoi manawa mō Tāmaki Makaurau Seek the pathway of creativity as a kete of inspiration for Auckland. This is today the foundation for our kaupapa; Tāmaki Makaurau a region alive with creativity.

This timeline charts significant events since the trust reviewed in 2019 how it could best serve the arts, culture and creative sector of Tāmaki Makaurau, and launched a new strategy in 2020.