Disability art workshops play a vital role in building inclusive communities, and challenging perceptions of disability within the wider arts sector. They help provide artists living with disability access to resources, skills development, and collaborative spaces where their artistic voices can thrive. They emphasise creative expression, professional practice, and recognition of the artist as a distinct and valued member of a broad and inclusive arts and culture ecology.

Arts OutWest Arts & Health coordinator Steven Cavanagh was approached to manage a 12-week pilot program of visual art workshops for artists who identify as working with disability. An EOI selection process had a large response from a talented and varied group of artists. A curriculum of creative visual arts engagements was designed and led by practicing artist/educators. Selected artists were guided and challenged to think about their art as an ever-evolving practice with infinite possibilities, fostering individual techniques and viewpoints.

Workshops have been exploratory, interactive and supportive, introducing participants to new technologies and materials and ensuring that barriers to art making are significantly reduced. Workshops have also served as a platform for networking, peer exchange and mentorship. By connecting emerging and established artists, participants have been able to share strategies for developing artworks while challenging stereotypes and making their mark on contemporary culture.

Our first workshop, on Tuesday 6 May, was an introduction to each other, the workshop facilitators and the kind of media they would be working with. Each week the group were encouraged to engage with different themes and ways of thinking and working. A constant focus for expression was a 10-metre roll of paper that the artists added to collaboratively and exhibited as a scroll-like visual diary. Each artist received their own kit of art materials and visual diary to continue working between classes. An offsite workshop at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery was an incredible highlight as participants responded to the current exhibition, Esssenssse.

The 12-week program culminated with an exhibition survey of work attended by project partners, family and friends at CSU. Sculpture, animation, drawing, painting, photography, collage and shadow puppet performance were curated into a show that was hosted and presented by the artists.

A seed of an idea in late 2024 that was brought to fruition in 2025. By celebrating lived experience and diversity, we are shaping a richer, more inclusive artistic landscape. The Arts OutWest Accessible Artistry Workshops have been funded by Carenne Support Limited and generously supported by BRAG, EnhanceABILITY and Charles Sturt University