The Accessible Arts and Bundanon Trust Artist-In-Residence Program announces a creative and career development opportunity for five artists with disability or who are d/Deaf from NSW and the ACT. Congratulations to the selected artists: Kath Harding, David Molloy, Dani Pearce, Catherine Rogers and Madeleine Stewart.

For the last six years, Accessible Arts has partnered with the Bundanon Trust to present an annual residency program for artists with disability or who are d/Deaf. This prestigious program comprises a seven (7) day residency in at the renowned Bundanon Trust estate – a beautiful rural property near Nowra that was gifted to the Australian people by famous Australian artist Arthur Boyd. The estate now supports arts practice and engagement with the arts through residency, education, exhibition and performance programs.  

Accessible Arts CEO Liz Martin says “Artists with disability don’t always get the same opportunities as artists without disability due to a range of physical, financial and cultural barriers. This program is all about trying to level the playing field for professional artists with disability so they can take their creativity and their careers to the next level.” 

The Bundanon Trust Artist-in-Residence program is the largest of its kind in Australia, making it highly sought after by artists nationally. “The residencies have been important steppingstones in the careers of many successful Australian artists, and this is what makes our annual initiative an incredibly valuable creative and career development opportunity for artists with disability.”

The residencies will take place from 16 – 22 October 2023 and will make a big difference for these five talented artists. 

Kath Harding

Kath Harding is a Sydney-based painter, photographer, and architect. Her education includes an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from the University of Western Sydney (2003), an undergraduate degree in Design at the University of Sydney (2008) and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Sydney (2015). She is a community-orientated storyteller who believes in cultural preservation as a pivotal part of a successful response to the issues presented by climate change. She has worked in architecture, building and urban planning. She has taught art privately and has taught indigenous students at a tertiary level. She has exhibited regularly in group shows for the last 29 years and aims to have her first solo show in the next year. In 2020 and 2022 she was awarded second in the International Women’s Day Art Prize. She has been a semi-finalist for the Berkeley Prize for Architecture and was the winner of the 2009 Master Builder Award for Community Spaces.

David Molloy

David Molloy is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice incorporates playwriting, screenwriting, performance, direction, visual design and videography. A graduate of both the University of Wollongong and AFTRS, he has worked internationally across stage and screen in over a decade of creative practice. David was selected for both the Arts Front Under 30 Symposium in 2018, and the National Theatre of Parramatta’s Playwrights of Parramatta program in 2019. His work with Inner West Council contributed to their winning the prestigious Leo Kelly OAM Arts and Culture Award for the Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding Project in 2021. Outside of his creative practice, David held the editor’s chair for youth culture brands The BRAG and 5why, and facilitated filmmaking workshops for young people at Shopfront Arts Co-Op, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre and CuriousWorks. He has provided videography services through Irony Mark Films since 2013, and is a proud member of screenwriters collective Lost Kitten.

Dani Pearce

Dani Pearce is a Writer, Director and Video Artist based in Sydney. Dani’s work holds a primary focus on experimental narrative, subverting and reimagining cinematic form and image. Her work spans narrative film, video artwork, photography, and poetry. Her work is ambitious and inventive; ideologically ruminating most distinctly on womanhood, body politics, systems of power and invisible disability. Dani’s work has been described by IndieWire as being defined by “her stunning, signature style.” Her work has been recognised by Sundance Film Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Cannes Young Director’s Awards, the Saatchi&Saatchi New Director’s Showcase, AVIFF Cannes Film Festival, the IMDb Independent Short Awards, Raindance Film Festival, BAFTA Aesthetica, Tribeca Video Art & Experimental Film Festival, Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Manchester Film Festival and many more.

Catherine Rogers

Catherine is Awabakal (Lake Macquarie / Hunter Region). As a result of the Lost and Stolen Generation, Catherine discovered her family’s aboriginality later in life. Now in her 60’s, Catherine’s journey is one of re-learning culture in the inherent responsibility of passing on this indigenous knowledge to her children and grandchild. As a result, Catherine has a deep understanding of the two cultures that she has experienced and seeks to reflect this in her artworks. Catherine only began painting in her mid 50’s after studying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Cultural Art and has exhibited at MIL-PRA Art & NAIDOC John Hunter Exhibitions. Catherine was nominated in 2017 for both the NSW Training Award and TAFE NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year Award, receiving highly commended from the second.

Madeleine Stewart

Madeleine Stewart is an award-winning comedian, film maker and disability advocate. 

With over a decade in the comedy industry performing with the likes of Adam Hills, Reuben Kaye and Rove McManus, Madeleine uses her platform for disability advocacy. In 2019 she created ‘Crips and Creeps’ Sydney’s first accessible comedy club, which has lead into ‘Are You Pulling My Leg’ a line up show currently touring, showcasing comedians with disability. Madeleine also dabbles in film making- her debut film ‘Inspire ME’ receiving multiple award nominations and screened internationally. Beyond the creative scene, Madeleine is currently working in disability advocacy as chairperson of the Disability Advisory Panel for Shopfront Theatre. Previously the Sydney Fringe Access Coordinator, Madeleine is currently the producer of Sydney Fringe’s accessible hub: Limitless.

Image Description: Headshots of the five artists selected for the 2023 Accessible Arts and Bundanon Trust Artist Residency Program. There are five vertical columns with a headshot in each column, featuring from left to right: Kath Harding, Madeleine Stewart, Catherine Rogers, David Molloy and Dani Pearce.