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Access Arts Artists have been selected for International ArtPara Exhibition in Milan

01/03/2026
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International ArtPara Exhibition

Access Arts Artists have been selected for International ArtPara Exhibition in Milan

We’re thrilled to share some exciting international news for Access Arts and the Brisbane Outsider Artists (BOA) program.

Five BOA artists have been selected to exhibit their work at ArtPara, an international exhibition in Milan in March 2026, presented as part of the Cultural Olympiad connected to the Milano–Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
ArtPara is often described as a “cultural Olympics” – bringing together artists with developmental disability from around the world to celebrate creativity, inclusion, and artistic excellence.

The word para means “next to, side by side, together”, reflecting a vision where art, healing, peace, and freedom coexist.

Exhibiting Artists

We are proud to congratulate the BOA artists selected for ArtPara Milano 2026

We couldn’t be prouder to see BOA artists represented on a global stage, alongside artists from across the world, in an event that centres disability-led creativity and artistic excellence.

A vibrant painting of three tropical fish stacked diagonally across a blue background. Each fish is brightly coloured with distinctive patterns, including dots and contrasting markings.

Sue Yule

Tropical Trio

A vibrant painting of three tropical fish stacked diagonally across a blue background. Each fish is brightly coloured with distinctive patterns, including dots and contrasting markings.
A figurative painting of a person standing at the shoreline, facing a glowing sunset over the ocean. Warm orange and yellow tones fill the sky, reflecting on the water, with distant dark landforms on the horizon.

Kerry Beazleigh

Sunset Self-Portrait

A figurative painting of a person standing at the shoreline, facing a glowing sunset over the ocean. Warm orange and yellow tones fill the sky, reflecting on the water, with distant dark landforms on the horizon.
A stylised portrait of a woman looking at her reflection in an oval mirror. The figure has dark curly hair, exaggerated facial features, and wears a patterned purple dress against a soft lavender background.

Levi Diball

What Am I Thinking

A stylised portrait of a woman looking at her reflection in an oval mirror. The figure has dark curly hair, exaggerated facial features, and wears a patterned purple dress against a soft lavender background.
An abstract painting composed of flowing, organic shapes outlined in white, filled with rich colours including red, yellow, blue, green, and purple, forming a rose-like structure.

Karen O’Neil

Rose

An abstract painting composed of flowing, organic shapes outlined in white, filled with rich colours including red, yellow, blue, green, and purple, forming a rose-like structure.
A brightly coloured painting of three stylised mushrooms against a pink and purple background. Each mushroom is a different size and colour, with bold outlines and playful, cartoon-like forms.

Jesse Jones

some kind of mushroom

A brightly coloured painting of three stylised mushrooms against a pink and purple background. Each mushroom is a different size and colour, with bold outlines and playful, cartoon-like forms.

Exhibition Details

When

8 – 18 March 2026

You can learn more about ArtPara here:
artpara-international.com

Where

Ex Fornace Gola,

Alzaia Naviglio Pavese,

Milan, Italy

Learn more about

Our Artists

Access Arts’ talented visual artists work across a range of mediums such as painting, photography, drawing, collage and mosaic. 

View our artists
Learn more about

Our Visual Arts Workshops

Our visual arts workshops are for artists experiencing disability who are seeking a creative workshop environment that is accessible, inclusive, and supportive.

View our Visual Art Workshops

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Confessions of The Brutally Blessed – 2025 Achievement Award Winner

03/12/2025
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And the winner is......

Kim
‘Busty Beatz’ Bowers

Confessions of The Brutally Blessed – 2025 Achievement Award Winner

Access Arts is proud to announce that Kim “Busty Beatz” Bowers has been awarded the Access Arts Achievement Award 2025, receiving $10,000 to support the development of her new theatre work Confessions of The Brutally Blessed.

Kim “Busty Beatz” Bowers is a Music Director, Composer, Sound Designer, Writer, Poet and Performance Maker who has been creating fearless work for more than 30 years. Of Xhosa, Chinese and Indonesian heritage and based on Yuggera Country in Brisbane, Kim creates powerful sonic worlds that sit at the intersection of music, theatre, activism and community

As the Queen Bee and Music Director of the internationally acclaimed production Hot Brown Honey, Kim has toured to major festivals and venues across Australia and overseas, receiving multiple awards including a Helpmann Award, Green Room Awards and the UK Total Theatre Award for Innovation. Her compositions and sound designs have featured with companies such as Queensland Theatre, La Boite, Malthouse Theatre, State Theatre Company South Australia, Brisbane Festival and many independent companies.

Confessions of The Brutally Blessed

The Award will support a key creative development phase of Confessions of The Brutally Blessed, a new theatre work that explores disability, neurodivergence, Black Femmehood, body sovereignty and ancestral memory through poetry, sound and live performance. The project will bring together a team of collaborators, including long term creative partners and community organisations, to develop script, music, access design and sensory elements from the outset.

 

Working with partners such as Inala Wangarra, Polytoxic and Quiet Riot Creative, Kim will use the Award to create time and space to write, compose and experiment in a way that supports her access needs, while building a framework for future presentation and touring.

The judging panel noted that Kim’s application demonstrated an exceptional level of artistic vibrancy, disability-led practice and sector impact. The Award arrives at a timely moment in her career, recognising her long-standing contribution to community-engaged, cross-cultural arts practice and supporting the development of a new work with strong artistic and community outcomes.

– Achievement Award Judging Pannel

We cannot wait to see how Kim will use the Award to undertake key creative development, that integrates access design and sensory storytelling. 

The Access Arts Achievement Award, supported by CPL – Choice, Passion, Life, provides a Queensland artist with disability with up to $10,000 to create, develop or present new work. The Award supports projects that strengthen artistic careers, expand professional networks and increase the visibility of artists with disability in Queensland and beyond.

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Coming Together Through Creativity

03/12/2025
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Coming Together Through Creativity

A Stronger Performing Arts Community in 2026

In 2026, Access Arts and Screech Arts will come together under one inclusive, accessible, and artistically rich program of workshops, performances, and creative development opportunities.

This renewal builds on the extraordinary success of Screech Arts’ recent productions PUSH and Wired Differently — two bold showcases of disability-led storytelling, physical theatre, and creative excellence that have inspired audiences and artists alike.
 
PUSH, presented at the 2025 Anywhere Theatre Festival, brought audiences to their feet at The Paint Factory in Yeronga. Directed by Martina Smart and Lynne Bradley, the production shared raw, authentic stories of resilience, imagination, and community through movement, poetry, and song — celebrating what it means to push boundaries and overcome obstacles together.
Wired Differently, co-produced with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre and presented at Queensland Theatre for Undercover Artist Festival 2025, featured eight extraordinary performers who identify as neurodivergent or living with disability. Through dance, physical theatre, and spoken word, the show invited audiences to see the world through a different lens — one wired for empathy, courage, and creativity.

The performance was astonishing. There was love, touch, warmth, humour, and power — and art. We need these things, so thank you.

— Dr John Bingly, Surgeon & Counsellor
A group of performers on stage at UAF. Their shirts are a blue, grey and green pattern and they are wearing bright coloured pants. Their arms are crossed over their bodies and they are holding hands. Photo credit: Jade Ellis Photography
Two performers on stage in wheelchairs. Two performers next to each of them. The person at the back has 1 arm up, while the person at the front is doing the splits with one leg on the ground and the other on the wheelchair, with her arms up in the air. Photo credit: Jade Ellis Photography

Wired Differently was so beautiful. My heart was bursting. It spoke to my soul.

— Jacinta Maxwell, Performer
These productions reflect the heart of Screech Arts — a space where collaboration, creativity, and courage thrive. Every week, artists come together through Access Arts’ Screech Arts Program to explore new ideas, build confidence, and create powerful performances that challenge and inspire.
 
The program is open to anyone who wants to develop their artistic skills, connect with others, and be part of a vibrant inclusive community. It stands as a testament to the incredible artists, facilitators, and support workers who bring these stories to life — and to the audiences who embrace them with open hearts.
Behind each performance stands a passionate creative team dedicated to inclusive excellence and artistic innovation:
 

 – Martina Smart (Director)

 – Lynne Bradley (Co-Director)

 – Sarah McGill (Choreographer)

 – Niala Lewis (Dramaturg / Writer)

Together, their work continues to redefine what inclusive performance can be – art that moves and connects us all.

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Access Arts and QYO: Spotlighting Connection

29/09/2025
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Access Arts and Queensland Youth Orchestra:

Spotlighting Connection

For Chantal (Access Arts participant), Dylan (QYO first violinist), and the delighted audience, something extraordinary unfolded at The Old Museum Concert Hall this September.
In a powerful collaboration between Access Arts and Queensland Youth Orchestras (QYO), artist Chantal Simpson took to the stage alongside the full Queensland Youth Orchestra 3, in a performance that will be remembered long after the final, beautifully suspended note played by Dylan and the orchestra. Such a rare moment this is — when movement, music, and meaning align so seamlessly on stage.
 
Chantal, a long-standing member of the Access Arts Theatre and Dance Ensemble, performed a stirring solo choreographed in response to Hope: For Orchestra — a work composed during the height of the COVID pandemic. With Dylan Jae Huang leading as first violinist, the orchestral score echoed the collective feelings of uncertainty, loss, and resilience that artists around the world experienced during that time.
 
Chantal’s performance translated this emotional landscape into movement with both vulnerability and strength, weaving through the music with grace and power. Her connection with the orchestra — and particularly with Dylan — created a captivating dialogue between sound and body

Amazing experience dancing to music by the Youth Orchestra. I’m so proud of what I have been able to achieve — a huge thank you to Access Arts and QYO for creating such a beautiful performance and for all the support.

— Chantal Simpson, Performer
AA _QYO Image
Chantel leaning against the front of the stage, with Dylan sitting on a chair behind her holding his violin. There are members of the QYO around them. Everyone is wearing black and smiling at the camera.

The collaboration marked a significant milestone in inclusive arts programming in Queensland. With the partnership having a lasting impact on QYO’s young musicians, many of whom had never shared the stage with an artist with disability in such an integrated way.

This collaboration with QYO was a profound moment for Access Arts. Seeing Chantal perform with such grace and emotional power, in dialogue with a live orchestra, was a reminder of what’s possible when we center access and share our artistic spaces.

— Tim Brown, Arts Manager, Access Arts

It was an absolute privilege to partner with Access Arts and witness the magic that unfolded on stage. Chantal’s performance added a unique and deeply human layer to the music. For our young musicians, this was a meaningful and unforgettable artistic exchange.

— Amanda Jolly, Executive Director, Queensland Youth Orchestras

We look forward to many more years of collaboration between Access Arts and Queensland Youth Orchestra. We thank everyone for their support in making this happen.

 

Photos by Access Arts. Featuring Chantal Simpson and members of QYO during rehearsal and performance.

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Is your provider closing? We’re here to support you.

18/09/2025
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Is your provider closing?

We're here to support you

Is your provider closing?

We're here to support you

Hearing that your current provider is closing can feel overwhelming. You may be wondering what’s next, who will support you, and how your daily life will be affected.

At Access Arts, we’ve supported many people through times of change. Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible – so you can keep focusing on what matters most to you, whether that’s your creative practice, community connection, or everyday supports.

What happens now?

If your provider has already closed, or will be closing soon, Access Arts can help you:

Continue receiving the supports you need – without gaps

Understand what comes next, including making changes to your NDIS plan if required

Get clear answers to your questions about your supports and your home

Take the time you need to make the right decision – with no pressure from us

Transitions made easier

Every transition is unique, but they all deserve one thing – care. At Access Arts, we’ll listen to you, understand your current supports, and ensure what matters to you remains at the centre.

We can help you: 

Keep your supports running smoothly, with no interruption

Navigate any NDIS plan changes if they’re needed

Explore your options at your own pace

If you choose Access Arts, we’ll make sure the handover feels clear, simple, and seamless

Why choose Access Arts?

Access Arts has been championing creativity and supporting people with disability for more than 40 years. We’re part of the CPL Group – a registered NDIS provider with a strong track record in safety, quality, and person-centred support.

Why choose Access Arts?

Access Arts has been championing creativity and supporting people with disability for more than 40 years. We’re part of the CPL Group – a registered NDIS provider with a strong track record in safety, quality, and person-centred support.

What we do

We exist to elevate artists working across both visual and performing art mediums, promoting the importance of their art through facilitation, advocacy and education.

We create development opportunities for visual and performing artists to grow their skills, pursue their artistic practice, showcase and sell their work. We advocate for equality for artists with disability within the arts industry.

PERFORMING ARTS

We offer year-round programs to provide a creative outlet for participants to express themselves in their own style of movement or music.

Learn more

VISUAL ARTS

We offer year-round workshops for both experienced artists and complete beginners.

Learn more
A man stands in a colourful t-shirt with his arms crossed. He smiles towards the camera. The background of his image is removed and he is placed on top of a vibrant pink and purple watercolour background.

GRANTS & AWARDS

Our grants and awards fund the development opportunities, guidance, and exposure artists with disability need to pursue their artistic practice.

Learn more

Frequently Asked Questions

Not at all.

If your creative journey is already flowing, we’ll do everything we can to keep it moving.

Our team will work with you and your previous provider (where possible) to make sure your classes, rehearsals, or studio time continue without disruption. Familiar mentors, fellow artists, and routines that support your practice will stay in place wherever possible.

We’ll focus on what matters most to you – so you can keep building your skills, developing your art, and sharing your creativity with confidence and peace of mind.

We’ll focus on what matters most to you – so you can keep building your skills, developing your art, and sharing your creativity with confidence and peace of mind.

Yes.

Your NDIS plan belongs to you, and you have the right to choose the provider that best supports your needs.

Not with Access Arts. 

We’ll guide you step by step and assist with paperwork and coordination.

No.

We’ll work with you to make sure your services continue without interruption.

Yes.

We offer a wide range of services, from in-home supports and community access to creative workshops, training, and professional pathways in the arts.

We can guide you, or your Support Coordinator, through a respectful transition, including how and when to notify your current provider.

We’ll take time to understand your goals, lifestyle, and creative interests. Your supports will be designed around you, and you’ll always stay in control.

Need to talk it through?

You don’t have to make any big decisions today. We’re here to answer your questions, explain your options, and make the process feel manageable.

Get in contact:

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Take creative risks, realise bold ideas and reach new audiences

14/08/2025
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Access Arts

achievement award

Take creative risks, realise bold ideas and reach new audiences

Applications are now open

APPLY NOW

Are you our next winner?

Applications are now open for the 2025 Access Arts Achievement Award

APPLY NOW

Access Arts is excited to announce that applications are now open for the 2025 Access Arts Achievement Award. Whether building on an existing work bringing a new one to life, this is a rare opportunity to lead your own artistic vision. Apply today.

What is the Access Arts Achievement Award?

The Access Arts Achievement Award offers up to $10,000 in funding for Queensland Artists with disability to create, develop, present, produce, exhibit and/or tour their work. This is a life-changing opportunity that has supported incredible projects over the years which is evident in the success stories of its past winners. 

Supporting all forms of art, the Access Arts Achievement Award is designed to help you take your project to the next level. Whether you want to start from the beginning, or extend the life of a current project, this award can make it happen. It fosters artistic excellence, leadership and visibility through supporting d/Deaf and disabled artists to take creative risks, realise bold ideas and reach new audiences.

Key Details

Applications open for submission:

Thursday, 4 September 2025

FREE online grant-writing workshop:

Wednesday, 8 October

(12:00pm – 1:00pm)

Applications close:

Friday, 7 November 2025

Winner Announced: 

Early December 2025

Applications close in:

Days
Hours
APPLY NOW

Join Our Free Grant-Writing Workshop

To help you create a compelling application, or to figure out how to start one, Access Arts is hosting a FREE online grant-writing workshop on Wednesday 8 October from 12:00pm – 1:00pm.

The workshop will delve into:

  • Where to start with your application
  • How to brainstorm and frame your project
  • What support material you need for your submission
  • How to budget your project

To attend this workshop, register by Friday, 4 October.

REGISTER NOW

Past Recipients

Michael Russell

Michael Russell has spent time by the beautiful Mary River in Maryborough, throughout 2025 working alongside dramaturg and playwright Ian Brown to turn his book of poetry titled ‘About a Boy’ into a performance piece. Together, Michael and Ian select and interpret poems from the collection to create a script that will be brought to life.  

Learn more
Donna Lawrence's artwork is etched on top of a pink watercolour background. The artwork is a self portrait of Donna who is smiling and looking off to the side.

Donna Lawrence

Donna Lawrence is using her 2023 Access Arts Achievement Award to create the ground breaking visual exhibit “Light and Shade” which opened in August 2024 at the well-respected Belco Art Gallery, Canberra. Her work challenges the stigma Donna aims to challenge the stigma around Borderline Peronsality Disorder (BPD) through an explorative and interactive visual journey. 

Learn more
Oliver is standing in front of a black background wearing blue glasses, an orange shirt and a colourful blazer. He is looking slightly off from the camera lens with a calm expression.

Oliver Hetherington-Page

Oliver Hetherington-Page the 2022 award winner, is a neurodiverse theatre-maker. Oliver, known for his cabaret “The No Bang Theory”, used the award for the  creation of his new cabaret work “Santa Claus is Autistic” which had its premier season in 2023.

Learn more

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Making Space for All: Our Festival Story with QPAC

18/07/2025
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Making Space for All:

Our Festival Story with QPAC

Access Arts (CPL) is proud to have partnered with QPAC as an Access Partner for this year’s Out of the Box festival for children eight years and under, working alongside QPAC and CPL families to help shape a vibrant week of live performances, sensory-friendly zones, and inclusive programming for children with disability.
 
One of the standout moments was Wonderbox by Sensorium Theatre – a beautifully crafted and highly specialised performance designed to welcome young audiences with disability and their friends, children who are often excluded from live events. One parent shared their heartfelt response:

“From the moment we arrived, I was struck by the care, thought, and inclusivity built into every aspect of the experience... My son not only stayed for the entire show, but he laughed, participated, and showed genuine awe... Wonderbox opened up a part of the world that my son is so often excluded from and gave our family an experience we will never forget.”

— Parent, Anonymous
A performer dressed in a vibrant green costume with leafy headgear smiles and engages warmly with a child wearing a paper crown. The two are interacting with a soft, furry puppet. Behind them, other festival attendees move through the foyer of QPAC.
A young girl and her mother sit together on a colourful crocheted rug, smiling warmly at the camera. The child holds a weaving frame while nestled in her mother’s lap. They are surrounded by a soft, textile-based installation of hanging lace and fabric, creating a sensory-rich, welcoming environment.
A mother and two young children are engaged in an art activity at a festival table. The boy uses a glue stick while the girl beside him arranges colourful paper and leaves. The scene is bright and interactive, reflecting a hands-on, inclusive space for creative play.
The performance used non-verbal cues, key-word signing, and a thoughtfully designed sensory environment to create meaningful, inclusive engagement. For this family, and many others, the experience was both joyful and deeply moving.
 
Across the festival, audience feedback celebrated small but powerful access-first details like Social Stories, Slow Down Zones, and inclusive theatre etiquette that helped families feel more at ease in public spaces.

“It has been a wonderfully rewarding opportunity to work with the Access Arts team. Your knowledge, generous guidance, and advocacy for truly putting inclusion upfront have been invaluable. I’m grateful for all we’ve achieved together - and what’s still to come.”

— Megan, QPAC

We’re incredibly proud of this collaboration and thank QPAC for making space for conversations that start with access, creating a culture where every child can belong, explore, and be included on their own terms.

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Affordable Art Fair Brisbane 2025: A Celebration of Inclusion and Creative Excellence

23/06/2025
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Affordable Art Fair Brisbane 2025:

A Celebration of Inclusion and Creative Excellence

From 8–11 May, Access Arts proudly took part in the Affordable Art Fair Brisbane, transforming the Brisbane Showgrounds Exhibition Building into a collector’s paradise filled with creativity, collaboration, and community.
 
The Access Arts stall was a standout success, selling a record number of artworks and showcasing inclusive arts practice and its potential appeal to commercial buyers. We were honoured to exhibit the work of 19 talented Access Arts artists, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best galleries in the country. This event was a milestone—both for selling artwork and for participating in such a buzzing, inclusive marketplace.
 
Thanks to the generosity of Affordable Art Fair (AAF), Access Arts was invited to participate as a charitable partner. This gesture provided our artists with invaluable exposure, professional recognition, and the opportunity to build lasting relationships with art buyers and curators.

"I made a point of sharing that the majority of my work at the stall was raising awareness about who Access Arts is, and that the AAF sought us out to make us a charitable partner. It really does work in their favour to have us there—it shows they are serious about inclusivity."

— Walter Stahl, Arts Facilitator, Access Arts

Image description: Three photos featuring Access Arts’ artists in front of their gallery, showing artwork created by them. 

Visitors responded with enthusiasm and curiosity—many were delighted to learn about Access Arts’ 42-year history. Hundreds of brochures and business cards were distributed, helping spread the word about our mission and the extraordinary work of our artists.
 
While the sales figures were exciting, the event’s real impact was seen in personal connections, artist validation, and a genuine sense of celebration.

“This milestone is so much more than sales — it’s a bold statement about the power of inclusion, creativity, and community… This is what collective impact looks like.”

— Billie Lewis-Cassidy, Group GM Social Impact & Community Development, CPL
For many artists, the experience of exhibiting at one of Brisbane’s premier visual arts events was profoundly affirming. Several artists attended daily, proudly introducing themselves, their peers, and their processes to the public. In fact, through these interactions, artists helped sell three artworks by directly engaging with visitors, an extraordinary achievement that highlights the strength of our artistic community.
 
A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who made this success possible. To our 19 exhibiting artists, you inspire us. Your talent, courage, and voices made this event truly unforgettable.
 
Stay tuned for more highlights from Access Arts in 2025!

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Rock the Bells: An Access Arts Showcase

10/12/2024
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3 DEC 2024

Rock
the Bells

Access Arts Showcase
& Afternoon Tea at KPMG

Access Arts, in collaboration with KPMG Brisbane, proudly presented Rock the Bells: Access Arts Showcase & Afternoon Tea – a vibrant end of year celebration that dazzled with theatre, dance and song.

This special event highlighted the work of the Access Arts Theatre and Dance Ensemble and the Access Arts Singers, bringing together captivating performances, heartfelt connections, and shared moments of joy through ensemble performances and inspiring solo works using movement, singing, monologues and poetry readings. 

The afternoon unfolded with dynamic theatre pieces and stunning movement duets that wove powerful stories and deep emotion into the showcase, adding depth and texture to the event. The audience was captivated by the creative expression and storytelling that filled the room, through the use of vibrant choreography and lively audience participation which infused the event with bursts of energy, and colour, demonstrating the profound impact of art. 

Adding to the magic of the afternoon, the Access Arts Singers delivered an extraordinary performance, delighting the audience with a long list of favorites including “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and “Silent Night”. Their renditions created moments of joy, nostalgia, and unity, leaving a lasting impression on everyone in attendance.

Access Arts Achievement Award Winner

The showcase provided the opportunity to announce the winner of the 2024 Access Arts Achievement Award, Michael Russell, alongside being able to present him with his certificate. 

Learn more

The showcase concluded with a shared afternoon tea, where guests, performers, and supporters connected over delicious treats. This was made even more special thanks to the incredible support of KPMG volunteers. Their warmth and generosity ensured every guest felt welcome and cared for, playing a vital role in creating an uplifting and memorable experience for all.

Rock the Bells truly embodied the spirit of Access Arts, celebrating creativity, community, and the joy of coming together through the power of performance – an unforgettable way to end the year on a high note!

Sponsors

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2024 Access Arts Achievement Award Winner - Michael Russell. Michael is facing the camera with his arms crossed. He is wearing a colourful Hawaiian shirt and he is smiling at the camera.

‘About a Boy’ a winning project from the Access Arts Achievement Award 

03/12/2024
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AND THE WINNER IS...

Micheal Russell

Access Arts Achievement Award

‘About a Boy’ a winning project from the Access Arts Achievement Award 

Micheal Russell has been announced of the recipient of the 2024 Access Arts Achievement Award. 

This award, sponsored by CPL – Choice, Passion, Life, provides Queensland artists with disability up to $10,000 in funding. The award is a game-changer, designed to help artists to create, develop, present, produce, exhibit and/or tour their work whether to extend the life of an existing project or bring new ideas to life.

 

Micheal an accomplished poet, performer, playwright, MC and workshop facilitator, will work alongside dramaturg and playwright Ian Brown, to translate selected poems into a script for a rehearsed reading featuring a talented ensemble of performers. 

Micheal shares his thoughts on what the award means to him and his plans for the future. 

My goal for this grant is to develop a script that translates About a Boy into a multi-artform performance. The themes of this work will generate the sense and experience of loneliness that is like an ache that cannot be explained. My voice and story need a wider audience. I have a dream that my work will change the lives of people with disabilities for the better. I aspire to be a household name in the performance genre. I want to express the story of my journey and explore the human elements we all share.

Micheal has dedicated over 20 years fostering creativity and connection within the arts community. As a founding member and leader of the Brotherhood of the Wordless, a collective of non-speaking writers, Micheal has inspired countless individuals to explore and express their creativity.

With a record number of submissions to the Access Arts Achievement Award this year, our judges praised Micheal’s work, saying

Congratulations, this project is amazing. I am on team genius. This project is a testimony to overcoming challenges and insurmountable odds. The passion required to motivate your achievements is inspirational. Keep doing what you are doing. This is a poignant reminder of the therapeutic, educational, transformative power of storytelling. And having a voice is a birthright regardless of how we express our voice.

Judge Marianne Wobcke

Micheal’s work exemplifies the profound impact of storytelling in the arts, and we can’t wait to see how ‘About a Boy’ evolves. Stay tuned for updates as Micheal continues to inspire change and creativity within Queensland’s arts community and beyond.

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