About the Speakers

Danielle Gullotta – Art Gallery of NSW Senior Access and Arts in Health Programs Producer

Danielle Gullotta is the Senior Access and Arts in Health Programs Producer, Learning and Participation, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Danielle has been leading the growth, development and research of the Art Gallery’s range of inclusive Access programs since 2008. Danielle creates opportunities for individuals to reflect, imagine and think creatively about art in a safe environment where curiosity is stimulated with open-ended outcomes for engaging a wide and diverse range of children and adults with specific needs.

Danielle advocates for the positive benefits of engagement in the arts for the aged care, educational, disability support and health sectors in promoting access and engagement with public collections.

Emmanuel Asante – We Are Studios Artist

Emmanuel Asante is an emerging leader, advocate and visual artist with disability living and working on Dharug land Western Sydney. Emmanuel demonstrates unparalleled dedication and passion in his advocacy, drawing from his personal experience as a young Ghanaian-Australian man and mental health advocate.

As a community leader, Emmanuel prioritises fostering inclusive environments through person-centred arts mentoring, creative workshop facilitation and advocacy, specifically aimed at empowering people with disability or who are d/Deaf, youth, young men confronting stigma or marginalization, and refugee communities. Additionally, he is dedicated to creating nurturing and inclusive spaces where new and emerging communities are included socially and empowered to create visibility by telling their stories through art. Emmanuel aims to uplift children from marginalized backgrounds by blending his roles as an artist and educator. Furthermore, he envisions creating opportunities for individuals with disabilities and mental health challenges to pursue careers as practising artists, both in Australia and his home country of Ghana.

Kerri Glasscock – CEO & Festival Director, Sydney Fringe

Kerri Glasscock is a well-known and influential arts leader in Sydney having built a strong reputation as an independent theatre maker, award winning venue owner, artistic director, CEO and effective advocate for the cultural sector. She is a respected voice of the Sydney night-time economy and has led the way in regulatory reform for the sector over the past six years, ensuring that policy positions are based on sector led data and needs.

Kerri is the founding co-director of artist run company 505 which operated the legendary live music club Venue 505 in Surry Hills (2004-19), and award winning Old 505 Theatre in Newtown (2015 to 2023). In 2013 she was appointed as CEO & Festival Director of the Sydney Fringe Festival. Under her stewardship the festival has grown from a small community event to the largest independent arts festival in NSW now featuring 2000 artists, attracting over 100,000 audiences and contributing over $34 million in economic impact to the city. She is currently Acting Chair of the NSW Government’s Creative Communities Council, a founding Board Director of the Night Time Industries Association, founding Board Director of the Live Music Venues Alliance, sits on the Create NSW’s Festivals Artform Board and a Board Director of peak body PAC Australia. Kerri has been listed in the Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Magazine’s annual 100 Most Influential and Inspiring People list.

Jeremy Lowrenčev – Producer for Limitless Sydney Fringe

Jeremy Lowrenčev (he/they) is a proud queer, Deaf performer and multi-disciplinarian from Western Sydney. His passion for expression, creativity and messing with social norms is shown through their credits. Jeremy is the Programs Coordinator – Access for Sydney Fringe and Co-Producer for Limitless. Recent credits include Producer and Showrunner’s Attachment at Jungle Entertainment, Deaf Consultant and commissioned Artist for Art Gallery of NSW, and commissioned artist and facilitator for Sydney World Pride. In 2022 QueerScreen Mardi Gras Film Festival, Jeremy had their film debut as the title role in ‘Illustrating Sam Newton’, which received the Audience Award. He is passionate about owning your disability and identity, and strives for Deaf inclusion and authentic representation in theatre, film and cultural events. They also work as an access auditor with Accessible Arts, performed and toured with Emmamemma and was Associate Director and Curator for a Q&A panel and performance at Riverside Theatres for International Day of People with Disability.

Justine Shih Pearson – CEO and Executive Director PACT (MC)

Justine Shih Pearson has an interdisciplinary practice as a designer, creative producer, facilitator, writer, arts researcher and advocate. Trained originally at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, for over 20 years she has collaborated on projects for live performance, digital media, film, TV, online publishing, public spaces, hospitals and museums in Australia, Europe, the UK, North America and SE Asia.

Based in Sydney/Warrang since 2007, Justine combines an ongoing creative practice with scholarship and advocacy in the areas of artist and art form development. With a reputation for championing the work of the independent artist, she has been Executive Director/CEO of PACT Centre for Emerging Artists since 2021; is on the board of artist-run space ReadyMade Works, which she chaired from 2017-2022; and was previously director of choreographic research centre Critical Path, producer of screendance festival ReelDance, and a programming fellow with Dance Theatre Workshop/NY Live Arts. She holds a MA (NYU) and PhD (USyd) in performance studies and writes and consults on intercultural and interdisciplinary practices, and placemaking. Mixed-race and multinational, growing up between the unceded lands of the Ohlone, Lenape, Kaurna, and Gadigal as part of the Chinese diaspora, Justine is a child of the Asia Pacific and this geo-cultural context pervades her approach.

Accessible Arts is proudly supported by Create NSW and this Hybrid Event Series has been made possible with support from the City of Sydney, Art Gallery of NSW and Livecrowd.

ENDS

Image description: A photo taken from the back of a room, featuring an audience watching an Auslan interpreted panel discussion. Photo by Dieter Knierim.