Five NSW artists with disability will have the opportunity to empower their creativity and careers by taking part in the 2020 Accessible Arts and Bundanon Trust Artist-in-Residence program.

The five artists – (pictured above, clockwise) Bernadette Smith, Liz Cooper, Eugenie Lee, Rhiannon Pegler and Michelle Teear – were selected from 23 applications and will each undertake a one-week residency at the renowned Bundanon estate from 12 – 18 October.

The Bundanon Trust is a rural property near Nowra in NSW that was gifted to the Australian people by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd which now supports arts practice and engagement with the arts through residency, education, exhibition and performance programs. Accessible Arts is NSW’s peak disability and arts organisation.

Accessible Arts CEO Kerry Comerford: “Artists with disability don’t always get the same opportunities as artists without disability due to a range of environmental, attitudinal, 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.

“Due to the impact of COVID, the funding for this year’s residency program had to be raised through a community fundraising program, and so we’d like to thank everyone who contributed for their kindness and generosity. Their support is going to make a huge difference in the lives of five very talented artists.

“We congratulate all five artists on their selection and look forward to working with them to maximise the value of their residency, help them develop their practice and further establish themselves in Australia’s arts sector.”

Details of the artists and the focus of their residency is below:

Bernadette Smith

Bernadette is a Sydney-based cross disciplinary artist who is currently working within photomedia and installation to explore water sustainability. Bernadette has exhibited extensively throughout the world and is included in collections in Australia, Germany, France, Britain, Singapore and Spain. During her residency, Bernadette will be developing ideas for a video installation using local stories of life around the rivers and creeks of the Shoalhaven area.

Eugenie Lee

Eugenie is a Korean born Australian interdisciplinary artist from Sydney whose practice focuses on participatory performances using technologies, installation, and paintings to explore her lived experience of persistent pain. Eugenie’s residency will focus on exploring polymer clay and drawings as vehicles for externalising the invisible disability of chronic pain experiences through the creation of imaginary human organs.

Liz Cooper

Liz is an award-winning Sydney-based writer/director who works across drama, documentary and online content. Her creative practice has a strong focus on authentic performance-driven drama with distinctive female characters. During her residency, Liz will focus on writing the second draft of her debut feature film Storm about a 13-year-old girl who is incarcerated in juvenile detention.

Michelle Teear

Michelle is an emerging Newcastle-based visual artist whose work celebrates the vibrancy and character of the Australian landscape. She produces raw gestural landscape paintings, works with natural fibres to make woven sculptures and extracts plant colour onto textiles. During her residency, Michelle will explore the local landscape en plein to inform the creation of a range of gouache on watercolour paper and small paintings using handmade oil and tempera paints.

Rhiannon Pegler

Rhiannon is an emerging visual artist from the Illawarra region. Rhiannon works in the medium of acrylic paint to interpret small environs of the microscopic including fungi, slime mould, plankton and microbes. Fascinated by the unseen landscapes that shape our lives, Rhiannon paints representations of them to entice herself and others to ponder such ‘scapes and worlds.  During her residency, Rhiannon will harvest specimens from the local Bundanon microverse of fungi, slime mould and plant cross-sections, inspect them under microscopes and interpret her discoveries as acrylic-based paintings.

ENDS

Image description: Colour headshots of 5 women displayed in a grid format. Clockwise: Bernadette Smith, Liz Cooper, Eugenie Lee, Rhiannon Pegler, Michelle Teear.

Facebook Post: Congratulations to the 5 artists who have been selected to take part in the 2020 Accessible Arts & Bundanon Trust Artist-in-Residence program which aims to empower the creativity and careers of professional artists with disability. Bernadette Smith, Eugenie Lee, Liz Cooper, Michelle Teear and Rhiannon Pegler will each undertake a 1-week residency at the renowned @BundanonTrust estate from 12 – 18 October. www.aarts.net.au

Twitter Post: 5 artists selected to take part in 2020 Accessible Arts & Bundanon Trust Artist-in-Residence program. Bernadette Smith, Eugenie Lee, Liz Cooper, Michelle Teear and Rhiannon Pegler will undertake a 1-week residency at the renowned @BundanonTrust estate from 12 – 18 October. www.aarts.net.au

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