[3] Returning to New Zealand Tavola went on to study a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Manukau School of Visual Arts in South Auckland, and got a job with Manukau City Council after graduating.
[3] In 2006 she founded the Fresh Gallery in Ōtara, Auckland as a partnership with Manukau City Council and the local community.
In 2019 she was a guest speaker at Para Site International Conference, Hong Kong, the Singapore Art Book Fair for NTU Centre for Contemporary Art (Singapore) and Spinning Triangles: Ignition of a School of Design for SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin, Germany / Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo).
[4][7][8][9] In 2019 Tavola opened an independent art gallery called Vunilagi Vou.
[11] 2017 – Pacific Studies Artist in Residence – University of Canterbury Macmillan Brown Centre[1]