As a professional artist my daily goal is to sell my artwork. My identified goal was to host a solo exhibition outside the Ipswich Region. This goal was achieved in Feburary with Transformations at Greaser Gallery in Fortitude Valley. However I have had different goals involving my art practice in 2019.
After an unsuccessful grant application by Roderick St Kindergarten I took the reins for securing funding for an Artist in Residence Program. Two artists took part in the program this year. Firstly at Roderick St and then at Milford St Kindergartens. The message of this program 'Art work is work' is about children attending kindergarden seeing artists at work, producing work and participating in creative play. The conversation widens to parents, Facebook and the general community.
Funding for community projects is very difficult to come by and the local ecomony is really struggling however, I am hopeful that some type of residencey program can happen in 2020.
My hope is to produce an art exhibition around the development of the Artist in Resident Program. But the year isn't over yet.
This year I have widened the area in which I have exhibited my work to include Esk, Marburg, Boonah and the Tweed. I will have exhibited in 4 Brisbane galleries and taken part in Rotary and Lion's art competitions.
The motivation for my participation in the visual arts community is to assist with the inclusion of artists with disabilities into the community, each gallery I work with is a opportunity to highlight the barriers for artists living with disabilities, but also the quality of work these artists produce.
This aim lead me to apply for a postition on the Regional Arts Development Fund committee and to improve accessibility to grants for artists living with disadvantages. Ipswich has a high number of residents who struggle with literacy skills so we have changed the application process. Applicants can now submit a half page expression of interest (or its equivalent) for evaulation and if they can demonstrate the project is viable they can then tackle the online application. Applications close this Sunday 10th November at Midnight.
On Saturday I am hosting, with other artists, Ipswich City Council, BEMAC and local business to assist networking and local knowledge to support the growth of artists in the region.
My own business plan extends beyond art sales. As a self-managed artist you should have a business plan. My goal for the next 10 years is to have artwork purchased by the Australian Art Bank, so only exhibiting in country towns isn't going to work for me. In 2017 the Australian Art Bank purchased its first art collection by an Australian artist with disabilities. On average artists with disabilities earn 42% less than their peers. Raising awareness with art directors and galleries along the way is just a step towards achieving equality.
As part of my 2020 planning I successfully applied for a travel grant to attend the 2019 Meeting Place - a national forum on arts and disability. I have previously attended this formun twice and it has played a key role in my ability to run visual arts community programs. You can read about the othe applicants on the Arts Access Australia Website.
This grant was made possible by the Meeting Place sponsors; Australian Arts Council and Creative Partnerships. While this covers most of my expenses I still needed to cover the expenses of my support worker. Today I learned a RADF quick response application was successful.
The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a partnership between Queensland Government and Ipswich City Council to support local arts and culture in Regional Queensland.
I'd also like to thank BEMAC for their ongoing support of the development of an Artists In Residency Program in the Ipswich region, I am very much looking forward to 2020 and an increase in the number of people with disabilities participating in the arts.
