Arts Access Australia
Annual Report
for 1 July 2005 – 30 June 2006 (Part 1)
Cover photo of Arts Access Australia publication Making
The Journey:
Arts and Disability in Australia launched at Parliament House by
Senator
The Hon Kay Patterson, Minister for Family and Community Services.
The photo is ensemble members of the Back to Back Theatre production
Mental: Rita Halabarec, Mark Deans, Darren Riches, Sonia Teuben
and
Nicki Holland.
Arts Access Australia Members
Arts Access Australia is:
Arts Access Australia
C/O Accessible Arts
Pier 4, The Wharf Hickson Rd
Walsh Bay NSW 2000
tel 02 9251 6844 fax 02 9251 6422
www.artsaccessaustralia.org
Accessible Arts
Pier 4, The Wharf
Hickson Rd
Walsh Bay NSW 2000
tel 02 9251 6499 fax 02 9251 6422
www.aarts.net.au
DADAA WA
arts@dadaawa.asn.au
21 Beach St
PO Box 1080
Fremantle WA 6160
tel 08 9430 6616 fax 08 9336 4008
Arts Access
24 Eastern Rd
South Melbourne VIC 3205
tel 03 9699 8299 fax 03 9699 8868
TTY 03 9699 7636
www.artsaccess.com.au
Arts Ability ACT Officers
aao2@actartsofficers.org.au
Level 1 North building, 180 London Circuit
Canberra ACT 2601
PO Box 992
Civic Square ACT 2608
tel 02 6247 1882 fax 02 6247 8859
Arts Access SA
101 Halifax St
Adelaide SA 5000
tel 08 8224 0799 fax 08 8224 0709
www.artsaccess-sa.org.au
Access Arts
PO Box 1034
Level 1 Stores Building
Brisbane Powerhouse
119 Lamington Drive
New Farm QLD 4005
tel 07 3358 6200 fax 07 3358 6211
www.accessarts.org.au
Arts Action
mtaylor@gcc.tas.gov.au
C/- Moonah Arts Centre
65 Hopkin St
Moonah TAS 7009
tel 03 6214 7633
Arts Access Central Australia
aaca@ozemail.com.au
C/ - InCite Youth Arts
tel / fax 08 8952 6338
PO Box 3491
Alice Springs NT 0871
Arts Access Darwin
artsaccess@brownsmart.com.au
Browns Mart Community Arts
Cnr Smith St and Harry Chan Ave
GPO Box 2429
Darwin NT 0801
tel 08 8981 5522 fax 08 8941 3222
Arts Access Australia Associate Members
The following organisations are Associate Members of Arts Access Australia:
Club Wild
www.clubwild.net/
Restless Dance Company
www.restlessdance.org/
Arts Project Australia
www.artsproject.org.au/
Back to Back Theatre
www.backtobacktheatre.com/
The Awakenings Festival
www.awakenings.horsham.net.au/
Karingallery
www.karingal.org.au/karingal-community-
living/home/participate/karingallery/90/default.aspx
Junction House Inc
http://home.iprimus.com.au/junctionhouse/
National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
www.visualarts.net.au/home/default.asp
International Affiliates
Arts Access Aotearoa (New Zealand)
www.artsaccess.org.nz/
VSA Arts (USA)
www.vsarts.org/
Arts Access Australia - Executive Director's report
The current 5 year strategic plan was developed and completed in June
2005 with support from the Australia Council and consultant Deb Michels
of RPR Consulting. It supports a significant shift in Arts Access Australia’s
work towards greater engagement with government and policy based advocacy.
The strategic plan has the following four outcome areas:
- The arts and disability sector is supported across government arts
portfolios and disability portfolios
- The distinctiveness of Australian arts and disability culture/s is
widely recognised within Australia and Internationally
- The Arts Access Australia network is a strong and unified voice for
the growth and development of arts and disability practice
- The Australian arts sector and disability sector sees arts and disability
as part of their core business
Significant successes in the year included:
- Working with the Australia Council to progress their commitment to
developing an arts and disability strategy for 2007 – 09 and ensuring
that disability is included in all of Council’s programs and priority
areas.
- Increasing the policy and solution based advocacy work of Arts Access
Australia by contributing, for example, to the Family and Community
Services led Commonwealth Disability Strategy review. Similarly our
input led to the Australian Bureau of Statistics including disability
as a topic in its arts and cultural sector data collection plans and
extending the consultation timeline.
For all our acknowledged success Arts Access Australia still struggles
with capacity and workload issues with one staff member, an ageing and
increasingly out of date website, and limited office space to expand should
we be successful in securing additional funding for a second position.
This resourcing issue is reflected in our ability to act on key objectives
to influence the Disability, Ageing and Mental Health portfolio areas.
This year, for the first time, Arts Access Australia conducted a survey
of our Associate Members. We found that while the level of service Arts
Access Australia provided for Associates was not even the majority did
value their relationship with Arts Access Australia and wanted to be more
involved in the national network. For Arts Access Australia’s part
the input Associates have made to our work has been very valuable and
reflects the depth of practice and expertise held in organisations like
Back to Back Theatre, Restless Dance, the Awakenings Festival etc. The
Board of Arts Access Australia will work to clarify the position of Associate
Members within the national network.
In addition to supporting the development of a Tasmanian arts and disability
network Arts Access Australia continues to provide support for Arts Access
Darwin and Arts Access Central Australia (based in Alice Springs) by identifying
funding opportunities and providing advice.
Arts Access Australia continues to promote the achievements of the arts
and disability sector through regular contributions to artshub, an Artwork
Magazine article, an Ausdance National Dance Forum Guest editorial and
news items in arts related e-news lists. Arts Access Australia’s
own e-news was published 4 times in the year and reaches 4,000 subscribers.
Significant conference presentations during the year included access
sessions at the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA)
and Museums Australia national conferences. Arts Access Australia is currently
developing two research reports into the Performing Arts and Museums and
Galleries sectors that will provide a snapshot of current access practices.
Both reports will be released in 2007.
Internationally the Hamutuk (connections) project took place in July
in East Timor. Zoe Scrogings and Guida Freitas spent three weeks in Timor
conducting workshops and developing partnerships. Unfortunately Arts Access
Australia was unsuccessful in securing funding to continue this project
though we intend to look at how we can support arts and disability in
Timor in future years. A project report is available at:
http://www.ccd.net/projects/
browse.html?projectID=1124346608
In October Arts Access Australia spent two weeks in the USA speaking
at both the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference
in Arizona run by the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts and the 31st
International Social Theory Politics and the Arts (STPA) conference in
Oregon. A side trip to Washington D.C. included meetings with VSA Arts
head office, the National Endowment for the Arts Accessibility Office
and the Smithsonian Institute access manager.
Arts Access Australia represents the arts and disability sector in the
following roles:
- CCDNSW Board Member
- Arts Peak Committee
- National Arts and Culture Alliance (NACA) Interim Committee
- Sydney Arts Management Advisory Group (SAMAG) Committee Member
- Confederation of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) member
- Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) participation
and payments alliance
- Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Disability
and Development Working Group
- Museums Australia access policy sub-committee
We also maintain membership of ACOSS, ACROD, Arts Law Centre and Creative
Exchange (UK).
Thank you to Accessible Arts NSW for continuing to host the national
office and to Hoholt Financial Consulting for their pro bono audit work.
Gareth Wreford
Executive Director
DADAA WA Report
DADAA has a unique organizational culture which is shared by all who
govern and work within the organization, it’s a complex organization
based upon a hybrid interface between the arts, community development,
disability and mental health, our staff have during the past twelve months
worked across WA providing direct services to over 2000 Western Australian’s
with disabilities and or mental illness, through this they have navigated
the complexities of remote service management, travelled thousands of
kilometres and engaged an enormous number of partners, whilst sustaining
many of the long term organizational partners held by DADAAWA.
DADAAWA continued throughout 2006 to work across Government at Federal
and State levels to underpin the cultural inclusion of people with disabilities
living in 46 WA communities from Fitzroy Crossing in the State’s
north to Albany in the south.
Strong Government support of DADAAWA continued to provide the basis from
which DADAAWA was able to lever support from the corporate, Local Government,
philanthropic and community sectors to ensure that sustainable cultural,
recreational and health services were available at the local level, offering
pathways for people with disabilities interested in the arts with an avenue
through which to develop skills, gain inclusion in the cultural life of
their local communities, perform, exhibit, collaborate with professional
and community based artists.
While much of the year was spent on service consolidation, systems management
an internal restructure and the stabilization of the organizations finances,
I am pleased to report that DADAAWA throughout this period was able to
more fully underpin all programs ensuring greater levels of both viability
and sustainability of our service.
I am happy to report that with the strong support of the Australia Council
for the Arts, the Dept of Culture and the Arts and the Disability Services
Commission, that DADAAWA was during 2006 able to stabilize an accumulated
operating deficit. The net profit for 2006 was $103,802 as opposed to
a net loss of ($96,079) in 2005. The total accumulated funds at June 30th
2006 were $46,656 as opposed to a deficit of ($59,146) in 2005.
David Doyle
Executive Director
Arts Ability Officers ACT Report
Database
Development and maintenance of postal and email database of disabled
and disadvantaged artists, clients, media and organizations within the
ACT is ongoing. Postal mail list- 284, email database-190
Newsletter
-production of hard copy and electronic copy
webAbility
An ACE funded grant to assist disabled client artists to set up and
maintain a website in partnership with Photoaccess. Programme facilitated
by Jo Hooper, conducted at Photoaccess. There were ten people involved,
the course covered ten weeks. A group of five in the morning and five
in the afternoon with an overlap at lunch time for individual questions.
Two people dropped out probably due to the degree of perseverance necessary
to complete the programme and to the complexity of concepts that were
involved.
Print Safe – Print Well
Print-making workshop at Megalo, to assist disabled artists who have
good printing skills to further their knowledge and perhaps gain enough
confidence to join regular community classes. Participants report excellent
progress and satisfaction levels.
City Heart DisAbility Art Prize
Develop grant application for annual visual arts exhibition to be held
in the Canberra Centre in conjunction with the annual City Heart Award
(perpetual). Canberra Centre site dropped in favour of the Legislative
Assembly Gallery for better security and space.
Healing Voices Project
Healing Voices domestic violence project. Steering committee in partnership
with Women’s Refuges and crisis accommodation. The third grant from
the Dept. of Women took some time which put pressure on the time frame.
In hind site, the women involved needed time to sort through all their
problems and come to terms with them. The project manager was inexperienced
which in the long run also added pressure on the participants and the
artAbilty administrator. There were also organisational and communication
difficulties due to the complexity of the project.
Painting with Parkinson’s
Exhibition in Melbourne for the Asia Pacific Parkinson’s Association
Symposium. Support through the Southern Cross Club for the transportation
of works.
Mentoring
Mark Ostell, Paul Bilton, Elizabeth Engel, Jenny Heckendorf and Daniel
McFadden were all helped re exhibitions. Paul Dumetz’s proposal
for a Ceramic Programme was accepted by CMAG. Danielle Merritt was helped
with renegotiated artsACT grant timeframe for completion of film project.
Sue Riley and Kylie Ramsay
Arts Ability ACT Officers
Arts in Action SA Report
In late 2005 a planning and review process was completed that had began
in August 2004. The process was extensive and included stakeholder consultations,
external facilitation, staff and board planning. The consultation has
led to the development of a new strategic plan that reflects a focus on
the maturing role of the organisation as the peak body for arts and disability
in South Australia. This shift involves strengthening our performance
as an advocate, as a representative of a field of practice/artistic endeavour,
and as the critical conduit between the arts industry and the disability
sector.
In 2006 (Arts Access SA’s 18th year) the board has reformed the
constitution to confirm the role of peak body for arts and disability
in South Australia. This restructure has include renaming the organisation
to from Arts in Action to Arts Access SA and reflects the priorities
of access as voiced by our community and effectively align ourselves with
the national peak body Arts Access Australia.
We have developed a new staffing structure, led by the single, full-time
leadership position of Executive Director. We have developed new job descriptions
for the other staff positions so that their work supports the achievement
of the objectives of our business plan. And we have secured triennial
funding from Arts SA and the Australia Council on the basis of that business
plan.
Key programs including the highly successful High Beam are being re-developed
as a key tool of communication to service and promote the disability and
arts sectors with a fresh and sustainable model. High Beam (Local) will
coordinate the program of arts events for the International Day for People
with a Disability in SA. High Beam (Global) will continue the South Australia
reputation of generating a program of international and national significance
by badging the project within the Adelaide Fringe and Festival. This will
offer the potential for disabled artists to present their work on a truly
international stage.
Arts Access SA will continue with other programs which have the capacity
to effectively showcase disability arts and to develop professional leadership
training.
Partnership is a key to our success. Any report for SA would be incomplete
if it did not acknowledge the extraordinary creative contributions of
the key disability arts organisations Tutti Ensemble, No Strings Attached
and Restless Dance Company. Likewise our support for the Arts Access Australia,
the national peak body and the role of SA arts organisations and disability
are represented in the production of a significant new resource “Making
the Journey”. Of the twelve case studies of arts and cultural organisations
from around Australia who have implemented diverse strategies to enable
access for people with disabilities. We can celebrate the fact that three
of the twelve case studies in the book were from SA organisations.
Arts Access SA work is developed through the ongoing generous support
of The Australia Council through the Commonwealth Government, Arts SA
and Office for Disability and Client Services through the Government of
SA. As revitalized and empowered agency, Arts Access SA looks to the future
with confidence. Our fresh perspective opens up many new, exciting and
dynamic possibilities and opportunities for people with disabilities in
the cultural life of South Australia and we look forward to the year ahead.
Peter Tregilgas
Executive Director
Accessible Arts NSW Report
This short report outlines the key projects, relationships and developments
over the past twelve months. Broadly speaking the organisation has been
able to re-engage with the arts and disability sectors through a variety
of partnerships and initiatives.
Accessible Arts has worked closely with groups to further develop access
for audiences who are ageing or who have a disability.
- Willoughby City Council in relation to the development of Civic Place
- Sculpture by the Sea access awareness and information
- Sydney Opera House Access Strategic Plan and Access Guide
- Historic Houses Trust Access Policy
- National Trust (of NSW) Access Guide
- Lyric Theatre Ticketing Policy amongst others.
- Worked collaboratively with Regional Arts NSW to negotiate the inclusion
of access considerations in their funding guidelines and acquittal forms
and procedures.
- A variety of City of Sydney Council personnel and access forums
Key projects that were continued or initiated in the past twelve months:
- Toured Intimate Encounters to Wagga, Albury, Tweed and Grafton regional
galleries.
- Completed research for the Museum of Australia and the National Museum
of Australia and provided a foreword for the publication.
- Acted as program partner to the Department of Ageing, Disability
and Home Care (DADHC) for International Day of People With a Disability
(IDPWD) and was responsible for the ‘Accessing the Arts’
program of events. Sixty events made up the ‘Accessing the Arts’
program including twenty-eight regional events and thirty two metropolitan
events.
- Auspiced Club Wild program of event for IDPWD.
- Held ‘Embracing the Accessible Era’ seminar
at Richard Wherrett theatre as part of IDPWD.
- Held initial forum for arts workers working or wishing to work with
people with a disability and developed agenda for future seminar.
- Continued to guide the growth of the Accessing The Arts Group (ATAG)
as a professional development group that provides key staff members
from arts organizations.
- NOISE and Accessible Arts launched a call out for young artists with
a disability across Australia to submit media friendly works. Artists
who submitted gained the chance to have their art seen or heard through
media. A number of micro-grants were made available to successful applicants
for further professional development opportunities.
- Secured $2500 in funding from Foundations for Rural and Regional
Renewal (FRRR) to devolve as small grants to regional and rural areas.
Due to the requirement for the funding to be allocated to organizations
operating in towns of 10 000 people or less, two organizations were
eligible for the grants. These were the Mallee Hen Cooperation in Nymagee
and the Cowra Regional Art Gallery in Cowra.
- Launched the consultation process to develop a Cultural Action Plan
for People with a Disability in NSW. The Plan will aim to review and
develop arts and cultural opportunities for people with a disability.
This Cultural Action Plan will help guide Accessible Arts future plans
and projects. It will also tie into other relevant strategies and policies
of organisations and government agencies in NSW.
- Disability Awareness and Access training is growing slowly and is
delivered as generic courses and specially tailored courses to specific
organisations.
Organisation management and growth
- Upgraded website to include current information about our services;
Disability Arts Workers Network (DAWN), tutors, events, projects and
fact sheets and significantly upgraded User manual.
- Held first meeting of the directors to approve change to company
limited by guarantee, on 20th December, 2005.
- Secured two new board members.
- Successfully applied to the NSW Ministry of the Arts for triennial
funding for 2006 to 2008.
- Successful in securing an additional $40,000 per annum as part of
the NSW Ministry for the Arts triennial funding agreement.
- Successful application to DADHC to amend Recreation and Leisure category
to include cultural pursuits and allocate AArts to this category to
secure recurrent funding.
Presentations have been made to a number of conferences, seminars and
groups including:
- A Skills Session and a Panel Presentation at the Museums Australia
Conference;
- Createability Seminars in Western Sydney;
- Museums Studies Students at Macquarie University;
- Information Cultural Exchange (ICE) Originate Workshop;
- Altogether Drama Forum;
- Inner West Disability Services;
- Holroyd City Council Children’s Sensory Sculpture Garden;
- Museums and Galleries Staff Meeting; and
- Embracing the Accessible Era.
Support
Accessible Arts provided support letters to a careful selection of funding
applications from a range of organisations aiming to undertake inspirational
arts and disability projects. Accessible Arts will continue to provide
ongoing support to: arts organisations working to increase access for
people with a disability; and disability organisations wanting to expand
creative and cultural opportunities for their clients and members. Further
support and assistance was provided by the Audience Development Officer
(ADO) to assist arts and disability organizations in identifying possible
philanthropic, government and in-kind funding opportunities. Advice on
funding processes was also provided to many representatives of grass roots
organizations in both the art and disability sectors.
Sancha Donald
Chief Executive Officer
Access Arts QLD Report
The 2005 -2006 year has come and gone very quickly and we at Access Arts
have experienced a number of remarkable changes as a result of a significant
shift in the philosophy of the organisation and the developing of new
strategic directions in mid 2004.
A key strategy was the proactive employment of arts workers and administrators
experiencing a disability into key positions in the organisation. The
staff and management committee has a broad range of arts and corporate
experience, six of ten staff, seven of eleven arts workers and four support
workers who we employ identify as experiencing a disability. Almost all
of those employed in the last two years have come in through initially
volunteering for the organisation, where a solid professional relationship
is developed and both parties come to an understanding of where a person
might be best placed in the organisation in terms of their skills, training
and life needs.
It is interesting that we started the 2005 year with a theme of Capturing
Brisbane for our workshop programs in the general community and through
Indigenous communities, Bungo the Money God and So Superfly being stand
out Indigenous programs. By years end we had moved well Beyond the
Horizon and some of our members took on capturing Queensland and
the 2005 World Expo in Aichi Japan. The team of thirteen sent to World
Expo came from our membership across Queensland. Professionals and newly
trained emerging artists experiencing disabilities alike performed in
Earth Square and ran two workshops per day for twenty two days in the
NGO Village and doing Sound Circles demonstrations in Nagoya
and Nara City.
The years 2005-06 saw a marked increase in Access Arts activity in Brisbane,
regional Queensland, and Japan and in China. The increase in activity
came about because we focused on delivering meaningful programs and workshops
that communities could identify with and take ownership of. Access Arts
was contracted to run programs at Regional Arts Australia Pacific
Edge Conference, participated in Art of Difference Melbourne
and demonstrated Sound Circles in Sydney in association with Accessible
Arts. A contract has been drawn up with the Tanpopo no ye foundation to
carry our flagship program Sound Circles into further into Japan. Access
Arts is honoured that legendary Japanese Director Tadashi Suzuki the founder
and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT) and Chairman of the
Japan Performing Arts Foundation (JPAF), has accepted an honorary membership
of Access Arts through our friends Frank Theatre.
Sound Circles from the very start has attracted strong interest
across Queensland and in Asia. Sound Circles continues to grow
and it does so for a number of very good reasons. At one level it functions
as a great social activity for people to meet with old friends make new
ones and be creative. Underpinning that, are strong skilling techniques
that can assist the development of participants in whatever form of the
performing arts that they may be interested in: music, performance, theatre,
storytelling to name a few.
As Peter Vance, Sound Circles facilitator says “Connect
– Create - Celebrate”
Sound Circles has been one of the reasons that our local and regional
membership has grown enormously. But a three hundred percent rise in membership
does not just come about because of a single program, it requires a huge
commitment by Access Arts management committee, staff, arts workers, volunteers
and our members all working towards making Access Arts an active, responsive
organisation and community. I thank you all for the advice and the support
given. I especially wish to thank the regional members and organisations
that have made the effort, joined with us and made us comfortable when
we have visited, I sincerely hope we have reciprocated in-kind. I look
forward to our Access Arts 2006 - 2007 year, aptly named, Some like
their Arts Hot.
Ross Barber
Executive Director
Arts Action TAS Report
Arts Action Inc. has developed a number of key stakeholders with state
and local government, arts organisations and disability service providers
in its bid to increase access and participation to the arts for people
with disabilities.
Most recently Arts Action has been working closely with the Department
of Premier and Cabinet’s Disability Bureau in the implementation
of the Companion Card. To date, Arts Action is pleased to announce that
through its networks Ten Days on the Island and Performing Lines (TasPerforms)
have become Business Affiliates of the Companion Card.
In addition, Arts Action Inc. has been instrumental in forming a partnership
between Is Theatre Ltd and Cosmos Recreational Services has been formed
to deliver theatre workshops for Cosmos clients throughout 2006. The benefit
of this partnership is two-fold: professional theatre training is provided
for clients of Cosmos; and work opportunities are provided for Is Theatre
emerging artists.
Partnerships with Burnie, Clarence, Glenorchy, and Hobart City Council’s
have been formed to accommodate events within Arts Action’s Amalgamation
Festival that will be launched on International Disability Day in 2006
and run for two weeks. Amalgamation is a festival that celebrates the
diversity of Tasmania’s cultural community and will showcase a number
of different art forms: workshops, art exhibitions, dance, film, an integrated
choir and a cross art form theatre piece by Back to Back Theatre. Arts
Action has managed to secure a total of $63,000 for this festival to date
and is still securing sponsorships and philanthropic funds to ensure its
success.
Festival partners include: Glenorchy City Council and the Moonah Arts
Centre, Hobart City Council, Devonport City Council, Burnie City Council,
Clarence City Council, ACROD Tasmania, ABC Radio, Cosmos Recreational
Services Hobart, Arts Roar Launceston, Back to Back Theatre Geelong, The
Tutti Ensemble Adelaide, Is Theatre Ltd Tasmania, Tasdance, Multicap Services
Burnie.
Marianne Taylor
Arts Action Manager
Arts Access Darwin Report
Arts Access Darwin has had a busy year. Arts Access Darwin is working
closely with Browns Mart Community Arts to host one of the four Bamboo
Lounge events planned for this year. Stand up Comedian Jodie Whalan will
be helping to organize and run the event, as well as being one of the
key performers. Jodie attended workshops run by Browns Mart for Bamboo
Lounge participants in March.
In 2005/6 Arts Access Darwin worked with Darwin City Council, DCC Disability
Advisory Committee, Artback, Arafmi, Carpentaria Disability Services,
Larrakia Nation, Browns Mart, Corrugated Iron Youth Arts and also statrted
communicating with AACA for a Territory wide view.
Arts Access Darwin’s work with Larrakia Nation is establishing art
based workshops for Indigenous youth with a strong focus on inclusion
of Indigenous youth with a disability. Workshops will commence later this
year and cover a range of art forms.
It is hoped that 2006/7 will be a more productive year, with continued
support from Browns Mart and Darwin City Council and that additional funding
will become available to make the position more workable. Arts Access
Australia has provided a wealth of information and support which has helped
Arts Access Darwin move ahead.
Penny Campton
Arts Access Darwin
Arts Access Central Australia Report
In 2005 InCite Youth Arts in partnership with the Arts Access Central
Australia (Arts ACA) Steering Committee secured support from the Alice
Springs Town Council, Community Development Grant Program for “seeding”
the position of the Arts ACA Artsworker. Monika McInerney was engaged
as the Artsworker 28thSept - 15thDec, 2005. Ms McInerney facilitated an
extensive consultation process throughout the Disability and Arts Sectors.
The process explored current levels of service provision, the gaps, and
identified the organisation’s possible roles and services. Through
these initial discussions, a number of potential collaborative ventures
between the Arts and Disability sectors emerged.
Arts ACA subsequently secured funds from Arts NT to maintain the Artsworker
position until the end of June 2006. In addition, Arts ACA secured a grant
from the NT Community Benefit Fund for a laptop, enabling this fledgling
organisation to move towards effective delivery of the proposed services
by building and resourcing infrastructural needs.
Arts ACA’s objective for the first half of 2006 was to secure further
funding, strengthen, refine and clarify the organisation, build on relationships
within the community, broaden public awareness and develop some collaborative
ventures to culminate in the second half of the year.
Arts ACA Reference Committee developed a ‘Strategic Action Plan’
which outlines the proposed service provision, organisational structure,
resources and future directions for Arts ACA. A reference committee planning
day was recommended as part of the development of the Arts ACA Strategic
Plan. With support from Arts NT and member organisations, the planning
day took place on the 18 March 2006 under the guidance of Consultant,
Sandra Krempl of the organisation called Cultural Planning and Development.
Outcomes include evidence that Arts ACA is guided by a reference group
that has global experience and connections, a very high level of skills
across a broad range of sectors enabling a sustainable, holistic approach
to disability access and positioning Arts ACA as a valuation resource
on quality of life issues for the wider community. The commitment of the
core group is affirmed by the track record of their values and spirit.
The Strategic Planning document is seen as providing guidance, directions,
roles, goals, visions and frameworks to make it all happen. It is also
seen as a tool to communicate to the outside world who and what Arts ACA
is. This latter purpose to include potential partners and stakeholders,
supports strategic alliances for sustainability. It is also a Framework
for accountability and transparency.
An Action Plan Calendar was developed as part to of this process and
has provided the foundation upon which Arts ACA’s 2006/2007 Program
of Activities has been developed. Arts ACA continues to submit applications
for funding to support and implement these activities across a brad range
of artforms. Arts ACA continues to work collaboratively with the Arts
and Disability sector in the ongoing development of a dynamic, innovative
and inclusive range of arts and cultural activities for people of all
ages with a disability in our Centralian community.
Monika McInernay
Arts Access Central Australia
Arts Access VIC Report
It’s given me renewed enthusiasm for the visual arts –
I’m seeing the world through water colour eyes!
Arts Access, Arts Class participant 2005
350 participants, 10,000 enquiries, distribution of 15,000 free and reduced
price tickets, 28 artistic projects, a new Executive Director, a film
festival under development, the Commonwealth Games, 2 new networks, artistic
practice training, a statewide focus, a mainstream theatre production,
respite and day programs in growth corridors, a long-term regional arts
project that has changed a local government, a vibrant and vocal Victorian
arts and disability/disadvantage sector. That was Arts Access Victoria
in 2005-2006.
Responding to a sector that is increasingly looking to us for support,
professional development opportunities, networking and information, Arts
Access has focussed on our peak body role over the past 12 months. In
September, we held a think tank with the Deaf community to discuss the
future of Victoria’s Deaf Arts Network (DAN). That meeting was overwhelmingly
supportive of Arts Access taking on DAN as part of its core work and so
our network development was underway. Next cab off the rank was the Arts
Studio Network. Arts Access convened a meeting of key metropolitan and
regional art studios that support artists with a disability /disadvantaged.
From that meeting a network has formed that will meet four times a year
to discuss, debate, support and nurture the sector. Watch out for more
networks in 2006-2007 including one for individual artists with a disability
and another for the performing arts.
Advocacy through art was also on the radar this year. In 2004, Arts Access
partnered with the Australia Centre of Moving Image on the Telling
Tales project supporting 25 people with a disability, and experience
of mental illness to create digital stories. These three-minute gems have
taken on a life of their own and in 2005-2006 selected stories screened
at the St Kilda Film Festival and the London Disability Film Festival.
Telling Tales was also showcased by the Department of Human Services’
at its International Day event attended by the Minister for Community
Services. The Other Film Festival (our flagship advocacy event –
great films, great access!) also cranked up again attracting three times
the financial support of the 2004 event. At the time of writing we are
only three weeks away from delivering the festival so watch this space
next year for a full report on this cinema spectacular.
The Artistic Program developed and delivered over 28 projects in 2005-2006.
With a commitment to working in the areas of greatest need, Arts Access
focussed on the growth areas of outer metropolitan Melbourne through respite
projects like Just In Case (with the City of Casey) and Way Out West (City
of Brimbank). These projects offer participants the opportunity to work
with professional artists to create both performing and visual arts. Art
Day South celebrated its 10th birthday with an evocative and moving group-devised
performance The Past Is Under Glass at Theatreworks in St Kilda. We continued
our partnership with the Shire of Strathbogie (for the third year) with
Spin – an integrated community dance project that had the locals
bellydancing, hip hopping and strutting their stuff to an old time waltz.
Saturday Morning Art Classes changed its name to Arts Access Arts Classes
this year when the project received a huge injection of funds from the
Department of Human Services (DHS) to deliver more programs to more people
with an experience of mental illness. Through the Artistic Program, we
also supported emerging artists and skills development for performing
arts companies, directors and project managers by delivering artistic
practice training in regional Victoria to Brrrr Theatre, at the Awakenings
Festival and with Weave Movement Theatre as part of Spin.
We continued to work with government and organisations to support long-term
systemic change and increase access to arts and culture for all Victorians.
Arts Access staff are represented on over 15 committees including Disability
Media, the Festival of Healthy Living (Royal Children’s Hospital),
the Ministerial Advisory Council for the Department of Victorian Communities
and the Round Table on Inclusive Arts, Tourism, Sport and Recreation also
convened by the Department of Victorian Communities. Through these committees
and reference groups we lobby, advocate, debate and influence policy.
And there was no ignoring the biggest show in Victoria this year –
the Commonwealth Games came to town in March and we worked with organisers
to ensure that people with a disability were represented and could participate
in the Opening and Closing ceremonies (and didn’t we love seeing
elite athletes with a disability competing side by side with other competitors!).
As for the organisational side of things - we met budgets, secured multi-year
funding from Arts Victoria for 2006-2008 (yippee), and awaited the outcomes
of the Australia Council’s Community Partnerships Scoping Study
with anticipation.
And my favourite quote for this year? It comes from an artist who has
only recently started working with us. Her surprise and delight at discovering
the richness of disability arts and the creative power of our participants
is not unusual.
Where one might expect to find a distance, a gap between abilities,
roles and art forms on a program of this type, I instead found a fertile
landscape
Ailey Ball, Get Out! Artist
December 2005
Criena Gehrke
Executive Director
Privacy and
Conditions
|
