Applications for arts and disability funding closing

In the second of a three-year initiative, the Australia Council for the Arts is providing dedicated funding for artists with disability. Applications close on February 2.

Australia Council Chief Executive Officer Tony Grybowski said, “Dedicated arts and disability funding is an important part the Council’s Cultural Engagement Framework which has been in place for almost a decade.

“The Australia Council is committed to supporting the artistic ambitions of people from diverse backgrounds.”

The Council’s Artists With Disability funding provides up to $25,000 for development grants and up to $50,000 for projects involving individuals and groups.

Applications are made here.

An accessible video with captions and Auslan interpretation on how to apply is at: vimeo.com/147817745.

One past successful recipient is Falling In Love With Frida, a dance theatre work by Melbourne-born Glasgow-based performance artist and choreographer Caroline Bowditch. It celebrates the life, loves and legacy of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. “She was such an iconic artist, but she is rarely remembered as a disabled artist, even though her disability was so integral in her work,” commented Bowditch.

The show has been a commercial and critical success in the UK since it premiered in 2014. Bowditch, an advisor to the British Council’s Unlimited Access project, says the Australian Council grant has helped expand the show’s Australian tour in March through Outlandish Arts to include Parramatta, Newcastle, Wollongong and Melbourne and increase the number of workshops.

The Council’s three-year disability funding program came in the wake of a pilot program, which supported 25 projects and “was the result of extensive consultation with the sector,” said Grybowski.

Last year’s round provided $300,000 to support 15 projects, some of which will be staged this year.