Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

• Taking the Lead

• Creative Inclusive

 

Taking the Lead

Fridaze, works by artists with disabilities from
Accessible Arts' Studio Project 2008 at
CarriageWorks.

Accessible Arts short-listed for Human Rights Award

The work being accomplished by Accessible Arts to achieve its vision of a society in which people with disability fully experience and participate in the arts and cultural life has been recognised by the Australian Human Rights Commission. Accessible Arts is one of five community organisations short-listed for the 2008 Human Rights Community (Organisation) Award. President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Hon. Catherine Branson QC said, "I congratulate all of the short-listed entries for their tireless, and often unrecognised work, in promoting human rights and helping people to overcome discrimination in our country everyday." Shortlists were finalised from around 220 nominations for the Human Rights Medal, the inaugural Young People's Human Rights Medal and the seven award categories. Winners and highly commended entries will be announced on 10 December 2008 to coincide with International Human Rights Day.

Local Government Cultural Awards 09 now open

For the second year running, the Accessible Arts Cultural Award will play an important part in highlighting projects that include people with disability at the annual NSW Local Government Cultural Awards. These awards recognise exemplary cultural development by NSW Councils. All entrants for the Awards are asked to submit information on how people with disability are included in their initiatives. The entrant that best delivers a high level of access for people with disabilities will gain the Accessible Arts Cultural Award. Last year, the Accessible Arts Cultural Award highlighted a dozen excellent projects for, by or about people with disability conducted by Councils in NSW.

MCA's Bella access program praised in Federal Parliament

The Museum of Contemporary Art's longstanding Bella Program for Young People with specific needs was described as "one of the best arts programs I have come across" by Maxine McKew, Member for Bennelong and Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education & Childcare, in a speech to the House of Representatives on 11 November 2008. Ms McKew was inspired to discuss the "transformative and unforgettable" experiences of Bella following her recent visit to the MCA to meet with program supporter Mrs Cynthia Jackson and MCA Learning staff, and observe art workshops with children with a range of disabilities in the galleries. The MCA is presenting a Bella Family Workshop to celebrate International Day of People with Disability. This free event for young people with disability aged 5 to 18 years, their families, friends and carers, is on 7 December 2008. Read more...

Sydney Opera House launches new online access information

Sydney Opera House has announced several new access initiatives to coincide with International Day of People with Disability. A new access diary showing details of assisted performances in 2009 and an access brochure with theatre access information is now online. Accessible Lift Tours are also being offered from Friday 28 November to Sunday 7 December 2008, commencing 12 pm to 1 pm. Usually costing around $35, a special price of $15 (carers free) is available in celebration of International Day of People with Disability. The access tours enable people with limited mobility to experience the architecture and engineering behind the world's most recognisable sails and include new audio-visual components. An Auslan interpreted access tour is available on Saturday 6 December 2008 at 12.30 pm. Bookings are essential. Telephone 9250 7250 or email tourism@sydneyoperahouse.com.

Carving the Big Brain, 2006 Celebrate Ability
Project in Central West NSW

Arts OutWest progressing access to the arts

Regional Focus: Arts OutWest, the regional arts development service for the Central West of New South Wales, is holding a series of focus groups to progress development of the arts for people with disability. With funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, the focus groups will build on the work achieved at the recent Arts & Disability Speak Up forum hosted in Orange and initiated by Accessible Arts. Sessions will include hands on activities and establish potential partnerships for future initiatives across all art forms. The first focus group will be 15 December 2008 at the Lithgow Information & Neighbourhood Centre. This session compliments a dozen events, projects and exhibitions that will take place in the region during December for people with disability and the broader community. A range of activities in Bathurst, Cowra, Forbes, Lithgow and Orange under the banner Celebrate Ability in the Central West 2008 will mark International day of People with Disability. For more information contact Arts OutWest tel: 02 6338 4657.

Ouch! It's a disability thing! on the BBC

International Focus: The BBC is hosting a website that reflects the lives and experiences of people with disability. Ouch! It's a disability thing! has articles, blogs, a message board, newsletter and an award-winning downloadable radio show - The Ouch Podcast. The monthly podcast is presented by a team of people who happen to have disabilities and broadcasts live music, interviews and news "aimed at those with a stakehold in disability." The site is raising the profile of people with disability in broadcast media, tv and the arts on a global scale, as well as spreading the word on how to tap into accessible versions of new media. It also monitors the representation of people with disability in the media and will accept articles, film clips and audio files for use on the site. Contact Damien Rose, Website Editor, email ouch@bbc.co.uk.

Creative Inclusive

Photography workshop in Cobar, in the far
west region of NSW

Don't DIS my ABILITY highlights arts and culture

Over sixty arts events, exhibitions, performances and workshops are contributing to the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability & Homecare's month long Don't DIS my ABILITY program of activities throughout December, celebrating International Day of People with Disability. Events are taking place state-wide and highlight the creative potential of people with disability in our communities. Cobar Arts Council, in the far west region of NSW is presenting a series of digital photography workshops. Professional photographer Mark Ingram is facilitating the workshops and participants will learn all aspects of the photographic process, from setting up a shot and printing, to selecting images for exhibition. This is one of 22 initiatives supported through the Don't DIS my ABILITY small arts grants, administered by Accessible Arts. For a full list of events for International Day of People with Disability in NSW visit  the website: www.internationaldayofpeoplewithadisability.com.au/events/events.asp

Tim Sharp alongside work A Double Shot of
Happiness, 2008, crayon and pen on cartridge
paper 40 x 55cm.

AART.BOXX 08 in review

AART.BOXX 08 engaged over 170 guests during opening night. The exhibition was a survey show of works by young and emerging artists with a disability from across Australia and was viewed by 300 visitors, over the three-week duration of the exhibition. Over half of the works on exhibition sold to art collectors, local galleries and art lovers, reflecting the high caliber of the works. The inclusion of public programs such as artist talks by local and interstate artists encouraged discussion and dialogue between artist and audience. These artists included NSW based ceramic artist Honey Crawford and Queensland based artist Tim Sharp who presented some of the ever-evolving adventures of Laser Beak Man. AART.BOXX 08 saw the introduction of tailored access tours to the exhibition, which enabled people from disability support services to respond to the exhibition through their own art making in the gallery.

Arts Development Officer vacancy

Accessible Arts is seeking an Arts Development Officer to work part-time from the Walsh Bay office. This position involves initiating projects that will lead to systemic change for people with disability wishing to engage in a creative life. It requires a confident self-starter with a minimum of five years experience as a practising artist in any art form. Experience in arts administration or project management is also essential. The Arts Development Officer will work across the arts and disability sectors and in a range of art forms, the position is part time for two days a week.

 

Successes in 2008 for audiences with disability

The integration of access services as part of core business in the arts industry has been the key for a progressive year in 2008. Sydney Film Festival's Accessible Cinema Strand, Sydney Writers Festival access information and the Biennale of Sydney Lord Mayor's Community Access Day provide innovative examples of integration and consequent growth in audiences. Betty Siegel, Director of Accessibility at the John F. Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts, Washington presented ideas and experience about key strategies for the integration of access services, during her national tour in September. Over 500 representatives from the arts industry were engaged and this contributed to promoting an improvement to the standard of access to the arts for people with disability in Australia. An audio file of Betty's keynote presentation 'Inclusive Leadership: Innovation & Impact' at the Utzon Room Sydney Opera House. For advice and guidance regarding audience development initiatives, please contact Alison McLaren, tel: 02 9251 6499 ext. 6 or amclaren@aarts.net.au.

Carriageworks special offer to see ‘The Age I'm in'

CarriageWorks, Sydney's new art centre, is offering Accessible Arts' newsletter subscribers a special offer on ticket prices to see ‘The Age I'm In' - a dance theatre performance that received rave reviews at the Sydney Festival in 2008. This poignant, witty and revealing portrait of Australians is directed by Kate Champion and produced by Force Majeure, one of Australia's premiere dance theatre companies. It features a cast of ten performers of all abilities aged between 15 and 80, including Daniel Daw, who is a dancer that also happens to have cerebral palsy. To book special offer tickets for $15.00 go to www.ticketmaster.com.au or call 1300 723 038, request the Force Majeure Tickets offer, and quote the password ‘Force'. CarriageWorks is situated at 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh and is a fully accessible venue.

Profile: Tra La La Blip

Regional Focus: Randolf Reimann, electronic musician, residential support worker and founder of an artist collective based on the far north coast of New South Wales, is currently in the United States meeting with record labels and radio stations who want to know more about Tra La La Blip. Through the combined talent of a group of people with disability creating original music, instruments on loan, Randolf's MacBook for recording and mixing, and stamps and silk screens to create a cover, the collective produced 100 copies of a compilation CD. ‘Soundbeam Sessions Volume 1' is loop-based electronic music, all tracks were created live during jam sessions at the Multi Task Human Resource Centre and after launching a MySpace earlier in the year, the ‘dreamlike' soundscapes are being picked up by radio stations and electronic music hubs worldwide. Listen to an interview on New York radio station WNYC.

New work by Ever After Theatre Company

‘Coming Up in Adoration' is the working title of a new theatre work currently being devised by Ever After Theatre Company. With sponsorship from the Ian Potter Foundation, the new work will premiere in 2009. To celebrate International Day of People with Disability, the company are presenting a short performance piece/open workshop of the work in development. Ever After Theatre Company is made up of 13 young actors who happen to have intellectual disabilities. The actors work with arts professionals to develop performance-making skills and have created around 14 public performances. Catch a glimpse of their current work in development on Tuesday 2 December 2008 at 6.30 pm at Rozelle Neighbourhood Centre, 665A Darling St, Rozelle. For more information contact Lara Thoms or Sue Johnston, tel: 9555 8988 ext 2 or email leisure@rnc.ngo.org.au.

Morganics and the crew, photo Phil
Heuzenroeder.

Chris Brown wannabes at the Beach Road Hotel

A recent series of Club Wild hip hop workshops for people with disability has landed participants the opportunity to perform at the Beach Rd Hotel in Bondi. Award winning Sydney based hip hop artist, Morganics has invited the crew to perform with a host of international acts on Friday 5 December 2008. Together with video artist Finton Mahony, Morganics and the crew have written a song and created an original film clip, complete with beat boxing, rapping and words of love and gratitude. Alison Richardson has been helping coordinate the workshops. She commented, "The gig is a great opportunity to perform in a mainstream venue and will raise the profile of this talented bunch of people to a hip hop loving public." For more information on Club Wild or the gig contact Phil by email phil@clubwild.net.

Other events & opportunities

• Black Dog Institute - Writing Competion

• Bloomin' Arts - Inner West Disability Network art exhibition

• Monet exhibition - an Audio Described tour at the Art Gallery of NSW

• Westpoint Blacktown - Performing Arts Day

• Sydney Festival - Volunteer Opportunities

• Call for Papers: FSG Australia 2nd National Conference - 'Mi Vida' (My Life)

• Proving the Practice – a new title evidencing the effectiveness of community-based arts initiatives

Feedback

We invite feedback and suggestions from our readers. Share your experiences of attending any of the listed events or offer suggestions for future newsletter items. Email feedback to info@aarts.net.au.

Send us your news

Contributions to the newsletter are welcome and encouraged. Please send us your item by the 15th of the month, for the following month’s edition. Listings should include the title, date, location, a short (100 word) description plus all available contact details, access details and an image (JPEG or GIF format). Artsevents, opportunities or news that will be of interest to people with disabilities, their families, friends and carers and are accessible will be published. Email contributions to: info@aarts.net.au.