Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

The North Coast will be the first area outside the Sydney metropolitan area to have a dedicated Arts and Disability Officer supported by Accessible Arts, the peak body for arts and disability in NSW.

This three-year, $300,000, project will bring together the arts and disability sectors throughout the local government areas of Ballina, Tweed Shire, Byron Shire, Coffs Harbour, Kyogle, Kempsey, Port Macquarie Hastings, Bellingen, Lismore, Greater Taree and the Clarence Valley.

Modeled on a similar project undertaken with great success over a four year period in Western Sydney, Creating Connections: Arts & Disability North Coast will empower people with disability to participate more fully in the arts. An important outcome of the Western Sydney project has been the ongoing connection between arts organisations and people with disability across the region.

Although based at Walsh Bay in the heart of Sydney’s arts precinct, Accessible Arts is no stranger to the northern coast, having funded local arts groups, such as Drumming To Our Own Beat, and exhibitions such as Damien Conte’s 2009 ‘Breaking Ground’, both for International Day of People with Disability.  Accessible Arts CEO Sancha Donald commented on the vibrancy of the region’s arts community and the role that played in devising the project.  ‘Groups like Tralala Blip, Reel Art Works and Alstonville’s Willowbank Studio are leading the way in regional engagement of art and disability,’ she said. ‘Community building projects such as this have a tremendous potential for lasting benefits for artists, audience development and the more meaningful inclusion of people with disability in the creative life.’

Arts Northern Rivers, the peak body for the arts and creative industries on the north coast, already has a working relationship with Accessible Arts and is delighted at the prospect of Creating Connections: Arts & Disability North Coast.  ‘This project is a tremendous recognition of the artistic and cultural capacity of our region,’ said Arts Northern Rivers chair Susan Meehan, ‘and we are very excited about the partnership between Accessible Arts and the seven local councils.’

Accessible Arts is a not for profit organisation that promotes full inclusion, access and opportunities in the arts for people with disability through advocacy, education and information. The Creating Connections: Arts & Disability North Coast project has been made possible through the Community Builders funding program of Community Services, Department of Human Services NSW.

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

Creating an arts and disability first for North Coast (Word, 111KB)