As Creative Director of Praying Mantis Productions, Jacqui manages Home Ground, a project that creates opportunities for women in the justice system to participate in high-quality arts process and practice. 

Founded by Jacqui in 2019, Home Ground provides a space where women in the justice system can pause, nurture hope, inspire social change, and create better lives for themselves and future generations. 

Based in Omārōrō Newtown, Wellington, Home Ground delivers programmes and workshops within the Wellington community, Arohata Women’s Prison, and Christchurch Women’s Prison.

In Home Ground projects, artists – both inside and outside of prison – collaborate to create works of art through dance, performance, photography, writing, painting, and music, addressing the challenges faced by women and whānau in the justice system.

Find out more at Home Ground↗

Between 2016 and 2021 CPAT umbrellaed the funding for Barbarian's Groundwork programme, including:

• RUCKUS (formerly Let'sMakeWorkTogether), a week-long incubator for emerging performance and installation artists to develop work in a safe, collegial environment.

• Arts Whānau Coffee Mornings, a regular social networking event for the arts community of Wellington to share concerns and inspirations over coffee.

This work is ongoing, Barbarian now receiving funding from Wellington City Council to deliver this programme of work.

In 2025 CPAT umbrellaed a grant from Foundation North↗ for Barbarian to develop and present a New Zealand Sign Language-integrated version of their performance work Speed is Emotional. 

Over a series of workshops and rehearsals, Randerson worked directly with deaf performer Pollyanna Ferguson to create a version of the show where the two women performed in tandem to make the show speak directly to d/Deaf audiences. This work was also supported by Equal Voices Arts Trust↗

Praying Mantis Productions has created a series of pop-up performances, creative activities and workshops at Newtown Park Apartments — growing out of Home Ground's creative space within the flats, where the relationship with this community first began to bloom.

Newtown Park is part of the Te Toi Māhana community housing network, Wellington's largest community housing provider, and home to a diverse mix of whānau, elders, new arrivals and long-time Wellingtonians living side by side in the heart of Newtown.

Set within the shared courtyard, a vibrant green space at the heart of the community, these events create moments of connection, surprise, and collective joy. True to its name, each event offers a bright spark in the day — bringing the community together, one dance party at a time.

Designed to be welcoming and accessible, the performances are safe and inclusive for all audiences, embracing people of every age, culture, and neurotype. Residents can choose to actively participate or simply enjoy the experience in whatever way feels comfortable.

Green Green Room is a materials library for performing arts practitioners in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa. A place for borrowing, sharing, and upcycling resources, Green Green Room is a theatre resource hub for set, props, costume and tech that supports artist to reduce waste and save money.

The initiative has been operating since 2023 and there are now two spaces where people can donate assets for others to use, or borrow what they need for their own project.

This initiative is a working collaboration between Trick of the Light theatre company↗, Barbarian Productions and others.

Find out more about Green Green Room↗