Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• "Soprano Marjorie Lawrence performs in her wheelchair in the 1940s"
  In the 1940s, Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence contracted polio and performed in her wheelchair, both nationally and internationally, showing veterans life after disability was possible. Platforms were modied for her wheelchair so she could perform.
• “Arts Project Australia is founded in 1974”
  In 1974, Myra Hilgendorf OAM founded Arts Project Australia, an organisation whose aim is for artists with an intellectual disability to have their work presented in a professional manner. In 1984, Arts Project moved to Hawthorn, Melbourne and started a studio workshop program. The organisation became an Incorporated Association in 1986. In 1994, Arts Project Australia artists exhibited their work internationally. Exhibitions occurred at MADMuseé and Centre d’Art Differencié in Belgium. Artist Julian Martin was selected for the Moët & Chandon Touring Exhibition. Arts Project published an education/slide kit in 1994 called ‘Between the Lines: Visual Arts and Intellectual Disability’. The organisation first published ‘Outline: News from Arts Project Australia’ in 1996. Arts Project Australia was recognised by the National Gallery of Australia in 2013 for having international significance.
• “Arts Access Australia established”
  Arts Access Australia was established in 1992 as a national body for arts and disability with funding support from the Australian Council for the Arts.
• “Australia Council releases its first Disability Action Plan”
  In 1996, the Australia Council for the Arts released its first Disability Action Plan.
• “1993 welfare report includes people with disability as one of four foci”
  ‘Australia's Welfare 1993: Services and Assistance’ was the first biennial report to include information on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Statistics on people with disability was one of four main areas. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/aa045df7-78e3-465e-b4b5-079b6ae6ace8/aw93.pdf?v=20230605150811&inline=true
• “The Art of Difference Disability and Deaf Arts Festival takes place in 2009”
  The Art of Difference Disability and Deaf Arts Festival in 2009 featured visual, performing, literary and new media artists as a two-week international arts festival.
• “The 2010s sees numerous new disability performing arts companies established”
  The 2010s saw the establishment of several new disability performing arts companies and collectives, both professional and community-based, across the country: Beyond the Square (NSW, 2011), ‘stArts with a D’ Performance Ensemble (NT, 2011), Theatre on Wheels (VIC, 2011), Can You See Me? Theatre (NSW, 2012), Company AT (SA, 2012), Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre (NSW, 2013), Screech Arts (QLD, 2014), IndelibilityArts (QLD, 2015), AHA Ensemble (QLD, 2015), Murmuration (NSW, 2015), Raspberry Ripple (VIC, 2015), Deafferent Theatre (VIC, 2016).
• “An ABC video series explores the experiences of deaf and disabled musicians”
  A 2021 video series by ABC Classic featured interviews with four deaf and disabled musicians. The series, made in honour of International Day of People with Disability, explored the musicians’ experiences of the music industry.
• “Arts Access Victoria launches the disability arts festival Alter State”
  In 2021, Arts Access Victoria launched Alter State, a major disability arts festival celebrating contemporary art and live performance with artists from Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand). “In October 2022, the inaugural Alter State presented 28 performances, including 5 world premiere events, schools’ shows and 14 different types of art forms, as well as 32 films, in-conversation sessions, and workshops.”
• “Disabled actor and writer Heather Rose stars in ‘Dance Me to My Song’ (1998)”
  The 1998 film ‘Dance Me to My Song’ stars Heather Rose, who also co-wrote the film. It is about a woman with cerebral palsy, whose carer resents the job. The dramatic tension rises when the two women both take an interest in the same man. The Rolf de Heer-directed film is significant for casting a disabled actor at a time when authentic disability representation was rare, not to mention Rose’s contribution to the screenplay. ‘Dance Me to My Song’ was selected to feature in the Cannes International Film Festival in May 1998. The documentary ‘Heather Rose Goes to Cannes’ (1998, Christopher Corin) follows Rose’s journey from Adelaide to Cannes.
• "Australia Council for the Arts (2022) Australia Council releases Towards Equity: a research overview of diversity in Australian arts."
  Reads, in part "The Australia Council for the Arts have released their critical new report Towards Equity: A research overview of diversity in Australia’s arts and cultural sector. This overview gathers published and unpublished data and research on representation within the arts and cultural sector in Australia."
• "Australia Council for the Arts (2018) Arts and Disability a Priority as Australia Council Commits Significant New Funding. 24 September 2018."
  Reads, in part "The Australia Council has committed $750k over three years to support sustainable careers and to recognise the artistic excellence of artists with disability."
• "Ruth Rentschler, Boram Lee, Ayse Collins, Jung Yoon (2023) ‘I am a professional dancer’: A case study of performing artists with disability. In Wyszomirski, M. J. & Chang, W. (Eds.), Building professionalism in the creative sector. Oxon: Routledge, 227-246"
  "The demand for professional recognition for artists with disability is growing. There is little research, however, on the ways in which disability arts are associated with professionalism. This study examines professionalization in disability arts by comparing it with the concept of professionalization in the arts generally. It identifies three components of professionalization in disability arts by means of a case study of an inclusive arts organization. This qualitative study entails 17 semi-structured interviews with artists, staff members, and other stakeholders both with and without disabilities."
• "Maree Roche, Ben Whitburn (2019) Mate, You’re Crippin’ Us Out: Biopolitics of the Arts Curriculum in Australia and the Swinging Identities of Dis/abilities. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies.13(3). https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2019.25"
  Reads, in part "The article explores arts curriculum in Australia as developed in the contexts of schooling, community organizations, and higher education for people with disabilities and mental health concerns. Motivated to explore whether or not students provided access to modified arts curriculum are engaging in education or receiving therapy, the aim is to address a dichotomy that is seemingly present in educational institutions, but extends well beyond the school gate and informs organizational responses to arts in the lives of people with disabilities. Resourced with the theoretical contributions of dis/ability studies for its concern for the biopolitics of disability, the authors weave personal experiences through the discussion of participation in arts throughout their lives. The article concludes with a theoretical discussion of how arts provision in the Australian context might develop the social and political value of art in the lives of people with dis/abilities and for all, on the basis that its educative value is emphasized over its therapeutic one."
• "Australia Council: Australian Arts Snapshots - Disability & the Arts (2002)"
  Reads, in part "Australians who have a disability are recognised as being creators of innovative, thought provoking, high quality, and often very irreverent artistic product. They are active across all artforms in mainstream and community arts contexts"
• "Bree Hadley (2017) Disability theatre in Australia: a survey and a sector ecology. Research in Drama Education, 22(3), pp. 305-324.”
• "The Arts and Disability"
• "Accessible Arts - ACE Arts Creativity Expression - Dave King - Article: DADAA - Disability in the Arts/Disadvantage in the Arts- Iss5, Pg3"
  Accessible Arts - ACE Arts Creativity Expression - Dave King - Article: DADAA - Disability in the Arts/Disadvantage in the Arts- Iss5, Pg3reads, in part "DISABILITY IN THE ARTS/DISADVANTAGED IN THE ARTS AUSTRALIA (DADAA) is a group of artists/art workers who represent the states and territories of Australia. Its members are representatives from those groups who work towards artistic empowerment and filling the creative needs of people with disabilities - that is to name a few, ACCESSIBLE ARTS and ARTS ACCESS. All the current members attended a meeting in July. They all work with people with disabilities and three have disabilities. The inaugural meeting was held in late 1990. This group was formed to facilitate and maintain a responsive external overview of the trends in the arts for those experiencing disadvantage or a disability."
• Company @
• Company AT
• Kate Larsen
• Kate Larson
• "Interview with Patricia Wozniak"
  Patricia Wozniak is a neurodivergent visual arts coordinator at Tutti Arts and is a disability arts advocate and ally. Interview Summary Patricia Wozniak, a visual arts coordinator at Tutti Arts with 14-15 years of experience, initially volunteered while studying for her master's and found joy and liberation in making art with the organisation. Tutti Arts has grown from offering two days to five days of visual arts each week and supports artists to enjoy creating, access quality materials, and earn income. While faced with challenges like NDIS funding intricacies and the need for easy-to-understand contracts, Patricia emphasizes the importance of artist-driven practice and equal opportunities. She observes a shift toward digital art and commercial endeavours among artists and asserts the vitality of educating artists about their rights and the political aspect of disability art in cultivating change and expression of identity.
• Weave Movement Theatre
• Arts Project Australia