Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

Accessible Arts NSW, is delighted to announce Hurstville City Council as the winner of  the 2011 Accessibility Award for its project DiscoverAbility.

The annual New South Wales Local Government Cultural Awards celebrate council cultural success. This is the fifth year that Accessible Arts has partnered with the Award organisers Local Government and Shires Association (LGSA) to recognise outstanding examples of access to community arts for people with disability.  All entrants to the Local Government Cultural Awards are asked to submit information on how people with disability are included in their initiatives and every entrant  is considered for the Accessibility Award. This year the judging panel considered almost 100 projects from 54 local council and shires across the state.

Hurstville City Council's DiscoverAbility project provided 14 local writers, seven with a disability, with the chance to develop skills in writing for performance through an intensive introduction to scriptwriting under the guidance of AWGIE award-winning playwright PP Cranney. A professional director and cast then workshopped five selected scripts.  These scripts were performed, recorded and broadcast as DiscoverAbility Radio Playhouse on community radio station 2NBC - FM.  As well as providing professional employment for local artists and musicians, DiscoverAbility also contributed to building local capacity for writing and writers in the Hurstville area.

The quality of cultural projects that address accessibility and inclusiveness is increasing according to Sancha Donald, CEO of Accessible Arts and member of the judging panel.  'The range of projects up for consideration this year was tremendous and certainly challenged the judges with their breath and scope,' said Ms Donald.  'From an outstanding field the DiscoverAbility project was finally chosen for its creation of a vibrant cultural opportunity for people with disability, its commitment to meaningful integration that transcended disability and to the ongoing outcomes expected from the project.'

This year the judges also awarded a Highly Commended to Dubbo City Council for the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre, citing this project as an exceptional example of building in meaningful accessibility solutions for the community from inception through to execution.

Other finalists for the Accessibility Award were

• 24/7 Youth Film Festival, Mosman Municipal Council

• Bankstown Arts Centre, Bankstown City Council

• Stories Unfold, North Sydney Council

• What Does Watsons Bay Mean to You?, Woollahra Municipal Council

The DiscoverAbility Radio Playhouse series is available to community radio stations nationally from Hurstville City Library.

Accessible Arts congratulates the winning project and all the finalists in this years Local Government Cultural Awards and looks forward to the continued commitment and creativity shown by local governments across NSW in championing accessibility.

For further information about this release contact:

Tracylee Arestides, Marketing & Media Coordinator P: 02 9251 6499 ext 101 M: 0425 208 521 E: marketing@aarts.net.au

And the winner is…LGSA Cultural Awards 2011 Accessibility Award winner announced (Word, 115KB)