Accessible Arts is pleased to welcome Emeritus Professor Sharman Pretty as the new Chair of the Board of Directors. Following the Accessible Arts NSW Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 18 April, Professor Pretty replaces Maryanne Ireland, who has served Accessible Arts for over ten years.
Accessible Arts is conducting a survey for the Deaf Community in NSW to find out what the Arts mean to people who are deaf and to learn about their experience of artistic opportunities as artists, audience members or participants.
Carla Wherby, Auburn based visual artist and recipient of Accessible Arts’ AART.BOXX scholarship, travelled with her sisters Paula and Lisa to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra last month to study war objects, memorabilia and ephemera.
Sydney’s newest entertainment destination, The Concourse in Chatswood, will host Accessible Arts’ third Arts Activated National Conference in October 2012. This new cultural hub, many years in the planning and with considerable consultation with the disability sector and with Accessible Arts, is a leading example of accessibility within a world-class Arts centre.
Students from Halinda School travelled from Whalan in Western Sydney to participate in the Tactile Tours - Access program at this year’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. Visiting the exhibition for the first time, Assistant Principal Anne Bennett is enthusiatisic about attending the exhibtion as a regular event on the Halinda school calendar.News
UK Arts and Disability brings wealth of experience to NSW
A recent trip abroad provided Sancha Donald, CEO of Accessible Arts, the opportunity to experience the arts and disability sector in the United Kingdom. Sancha visited a diverse group of professional and community organisations, all providing access to the arts through inclusive and well-established practices.
The weeklong exchange included traveling to twelve regional and metropolitan organisations. Visiting accessible facilities, inclusive programs and companies, provided new resources and information that will be useful for the development of future projects at Accessible Arts. An opportunity to profile models of practice used by arts and disability organisations in NSW was also exchanged.
The experience has offered Sancha insight into the scope of programs for people with disabilities in the UK. The opportunity will hopefully lead to long term relationships for Accessible Arts and opportunity for those in the arts and disability sector in Australia to learn about work similar to their own through direct contact with UK networks.
"After a generous and informative week of dialogue, I am grateful for the time and assistance given to me. In the short and long term Accessible Arts will benefit from establishing ongoing connections with these organizations," explained Sancha.
More information about Sancha's trip will be published on the Accessible Arts website in the coming weeks under UK Exchange. Sancha was unable to Twitter about due to technical difficulties.
Organisations visited included:
- Arts Council of England - Funding, Disability Action Strategy
- Vocal Eyes - Audio Description Service
- Drake Music Project - Accessible Music Program
- Stagetext - Caption Performances and promotion of captioning at cultural venues throughout the UK.
- Epic Arts - Arts Disability Service Provider; Outreach Programs
- Corali Dance - Accessible Dance Company
- Tate Modern (Magic Program) - Audience Development program involving ten major arts galleries and museums in London
- The Otherside Gallery - Diverse City exhibition opening
- Candoco - Inclusive professional Dance Company
- Chicken Shed - Visual Arts Program; Premises; Mentoring; Residencies
- Shape - Peak Arts and Disability organisation. Future Leader Program, Access Audits, Shape Ticket, Disability Awareness Training
- Mind the Gap - Theatre; Outreach; Actors Agency; Pathways training program
- The Arts House - Visual Arts Program; Premises; Mentoring; Residencies