For 40 years, Accessible Arts has been at the forefront of advocacy and advancement, championing the rights of, and opportunities for, people with disability or who are d/Deaf to develop and sustain professional arts careers and have equitable access to arts, culture and screen across NSW.

Join in this exciting opportunity to gather, share, learn and create as we honour four decades of dedication and community impact.

The centrepiece of the celebration is Access Ideas and Insights: Nothing About Us Without Us. This anticipated event brings together leading voices from the arts and disability community to reflect on what has been achieved over the past 40 years, where we are now, and what lies ahead. Panellists include Morwenna Collett (Musician and Accessibility Consultant), Bianca Yeung (Writer, Dancer and Interdisciplinary Artist) and Finn O’Keefe (Disability Advocate and Lived Experience Researcher) alongside MC by Alex Jones (Artist and Disability Advocate).

Drop into a free workshop and get creative at our hands-on Disability Justice & Joy: Zine Making Workshops, led by Ava Lacoon and co-facilitated by Cass Li, Lara-Marie Wilkinson and Mei Lin Meyers. Create colourful zines celebrating Disability culture and community using cut-and-paste resources and stimmy craft materials.

Plus join in the fun with Comedian-Led Art Tours as the hilarious Imaan Hadchiti and Alice Tovey provide insights into The Edge of Things – an Art Gallery of New South Wales exhibition which explores the ways in which artists give form to the dynamism and disorder of our contemporary world.

This is more than a milestone. It is a celebration of the people, creativity and ideas that have shaped 40 years of arts and disability in NSW — and an invitation to imagine what the next 40 years can make possible.

Where and When

Wednesday 14 October 2026

Art Gallery of NSW

The full program of free and accessible events runs from 3.30pm until 10pm, and includes:

3:30pm – 4:30pm: Disability Justice & Joy: Zine Making Workshops
5:00pm – 7:00pm: Access Ideas and Insights: Nothing About Us Without Us (in-person event and accessibly streamed online) + Celebration and light refreshments
7:00pm – 7:45pm: Comedian-Led Art Tour of The Edge of Things
7.30pm –  8:30pm: Disability Justice & Joy: Zine Making Workshops
8:00pm – 8:45pm: Comedian-Led Art Tour of The Edge of Things

Free Events

Bookings essential for Access Ideas and Insights: Nothing About Us Without Us. This is required for both in-person and online bookings.

Click here to book

Bookings not required for the Zine Making Workshops and Comedian-Led Art Tours.

Access

All activities are wheelchair accessible and will be Auslan interpreted.

The Access Ideas and Insights panel event will be Auslan interpreted, captioned and accessibly livestreamed. The in-person panel event will be open captioned and the online panel event will be closed captioned.

      

For details on how to get to the Art Gallery of NSW, please click here.

Accessible Arts is proudly supported by Create NSW. This event has been made possible with support from the City of Sydney as Principal Local Government Partner, and the Art Gallery of NSW.

ENDS

Image description: Collage of headshots of guest speakers and including Morwenna Collett, Finn O’Keefe (photo by Rhiannon Hopley), Bianca Yeung (photo by Byron Martin) and Alex Jones.