The NSW Government’s celebration for International Day of People with a disability, presented by Ageing, Disability & Homecare was held at the Australian Museum this year on Friday 2 December 2011. Delineate projects, supported by small grants from ADHC and devolved by Accessible Arts, were highlighted at the celebration, to congratulate the range of inclusive projects in progress across the state. 
Delineate artists and project managers gathered at Accessible Arts at the end of September for a day of roundtable discussion, professional development and project presentations. The six model projects from across the state will feature throughout November and December in various regions, to bring focus to the NSW Government's Don't DIS my ABILITY campaign and to celebrate cultures of disability through the Arts.
Accessible Arts’ small grants arts program has been supporting the creative initiatives of the Don't DIS my ABILITY campaign since 2002. This year, in partnership with Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC), the program has been reshaped and launched under the program banner Delineate.
Two regional arts and disability projects News
Collaboration expands context for emerging artist
Newtown based emerging artist Georgia Cranko received a Don't DIS my ABILITY Small Arts Grant in 2010 for her project Living WITHin Context. Receiving the grant enabled Georgia to work with local artists Georgie Read and Michelle Dennis and producer Claudia Chidiac to create a new performance work.
This collaboration supported the development of a solo performance piece and three short films portraying the small, mundane triumphs and failures of a life with a disability, in significant and humorous ways.
Georgia Cranko's aspirations as an emerging artist, is to develop an interdisciplinary practice combining writing, photography, filmmaking and performance. Conceptually centered in an identity beyond disability, Georgia's work is thought provoking and insightful. As an emerging artist, Georgia's determination is fostered through opportunities to work with a diverse range of artists.
"Working intensively with Michelle and Georgia provided a framework for my original ideas. Combining my poetry, performance and movement, I was encouraged to play around with different movements, and to think visually and in different ways to express the emotions that are so prominent in my poems. I discovered I really enjoy using my body to convey meaning, and that affirmed my passion for performance art," Georgia explains.
Georgia's live performance of Living WITHin Context, was presented at the Red Rattler in Marrickville on 2 December 2010 to an audience of approximately 70 people. The performance included the use of white placards in the style of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" music video, a play on giving voice to common misconceptions people have about being non-verbal.
"By having a series of sentences, each starting with "Just because I don't speak doesn't mean …" I was imploring the audience to look past my disability," Georgia said.
Delineate: Unleashing the potential of arts and disability, is the funding program that will celebrate the Don't DIS My ABILITY campaign in 2011 and provide opportunities for people with disability to participate in and experience the Arts.
"This year we have developed the funding program to promote strong partnerships and professional collaborations much like Georgia's project in 2010. Living WITHin Context is a good example of promoting arts and disability practice within NSW, through supporting pathways that unleash the artistic potential of artists with disability," said Sarah Vyne Vassallo, Arts Development, Accessible Arts.
Applications for Delineate are now open.