January Newsletter

Professional Development Program for Artists

Living with disability and mental health issues,.

Debbie Chilron (Project Officer)

PO Box 483, IPSWICH QUEENSLAND

Telephone: 0421 401 788

Pilot Program runs on March 1, 15, and 29th March 2014

Applications close 5 pm 11th February 2014

Costs $55 per person

Sorry we are currently not funded to provide transport.  

ArtISability is a professional development program designed for artists living with disability and metal health issues. Our 2014 Pilot program is support by Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Ipswich City Council and Arts Queensland, A.L.A.R.A Queensland, Access Arts Queensland and members of the Ipswich regional community.

Our program is designed for artists who seek to further develop their artistic skills and/or develop industry contacts within their local community.  We give priority to artists experiencing challenges in their artistic purists due to living with significant disability and mental health issues. These include a physical, intellectual, sensory, behavioural, neurological or mental health issues who need support to undertake daily living tasks.  Specific eligibility criteria and application forms are available from our website for download. Please note that the closing date for our March 2014 program, is 5 pm February 11^th. This allows us to develop an Individual Artists - Professional Development Plan for each client and begin to seek opportunities for our artists beyond the completion of the program, further information is available by phoning Debbie directly on (07) 3281 3218.  Assistance with completing application forms is available and if you require the application form in another format please contact us for assistance.

March 2014 sees an opportunity for our artists to develop skills in fine arts ─ oil painting, abstract art and sculpture. You can visit our website for more details on workshop details.

Partnerships in the Ipswich Region: We are still seeking to develop partnerships with local businesses and organisations to run a successful ArtISability Pilot Program.  If successful, we hope to gain funding to continue our program in 2015, and extend the boundaries of the program into other parts of Southeast Queensland. We have already had expression of interests from artists living in Brisbane and Toowoomba.

Community Volunteers: There are still places available for Ipswich Residents to volunteer to support individual artists with a disability to complete the program and successfully link into the Ipswich Arts Community.  Volunteers are required to assist with setting up & clean up, assisting individuals with their equipment and cleaning the equipment, mobility, learning supports, note taking, and eating lunch. Professional support workers will be partnering with us through ALARA Queensland and volunteers will receive training to enable them to undertake the role.  All volunteers need to have registered with us by January 11^th to allow criminal screening and workers compensation processes to be completed with ALARA Queensland.

Artists Groups and Arts Organisations: As part of our community linking program, we are seeking to link our artists to the local artists’ community in the Ipswich region and surrounding areas. This will include artist markets, joining local artists groups, undertaking art workshops in the community, linking with the Ipswich show community, further education and skills developments and collaborating on arts projects to present and arts exhibition.  We will thus be seeking a suitable venue to enable the group to bring the art exhibition together. Any groups or organizations interested in partnering with us will receive free advertising in our February Newsletter.

If you are a disability support organisation, who runs artistic groups you may advertise in our newsletter which will be distributed electronically through the Ipswich Disability Interagency Network and local arts networks.

Beyond March 2014: To continue our program beyond the pilot we require the support of the local Ipswich Community.  This includes support agency, individual artists, volunteers, arts agencies, local arts groups and the Ipswich community. If you are interested in attending a ‘group discussion’ in view to supporting further arts or community grants on April 15^th at 7 pm, venue to be advised Contact Debbie on (07) 3281 3218.