By Marianne Taylor, Executive Director, Arts Access Aotearoa

Many of us take the arts for granted. We go to the theatre or a concert; take painting, dance or creative writing classes; and book our tickets to the New Zealand International Film Festival every year.

But what if you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to participate? After all, an estimated 660,300 people (17% of the population) reported a disability in the 2006 Statistics New Zealand survey. Perhaps you use a wheelchair or are sight-impaired. Maybe your disability is less obvious: you experience epilepsy, asthma or migraines.

Unless we have direct experience of disability or work in the sector, it’s easy not to think about the barriers that people with a disability can face on a daily basis. It’s not just about providing a ramp for wheelchairs. The attitudes of people is a huge barrier. And then there’s transport, parking, toilet facilities, hearing loops, the cost of tickets for a support person, and so on.

Let me share just a few stories that illustrate the power of the arts to transform our lives. And why it’s vital that all New Zealanders who want to create and participate in the arts should be able to do so, whatever their circumstances.

John Puhara has been attending Spark Studio since its early days. This Auckland creative space provides artistic and learning opportunities for people with disabilities and John participates in its visual arts education programmes, which are taken by trained arts facilitators.

This is what John says in A Vital Practice, a book published earlier this year by Spark Studio. “My art is my life … No art – no life. All my study is here every day. It’s a challenging thing – I’m ready for it. I like the opportunities I’ve got. I like art so much – I want to keep going the rest of my bloody life. Amen.”

In Invercargill, CS Art provides a safe and supportive place for Gerald Smith to explore his creativity. Painting removes Gerald from the challenges of trying to understand an often confusing world. It’s not easy for Gerald to talk about his art but the satisfaction he finds in painting is apparent in the colourful exuberance of his work. It’s also there in his calm concentration when he’s working and in his smile when he talks about art.

Gerald says: “I enjoy going down to the workshop. Not a good idea staying at home. I want to get out to do things. They’ve got lovely people and I can be very friendly with them”.

Former teacher, professional musician and artist Shelley Foster (Ngāti Awa) held her first solo exhibition in Whangarei last year. The paintings dealt with the death of her daughter and her brother, and documented her journey from grief and mental ill-health to wellness.

Shelley says that art has changed her life. “Now when I fill out forms, I write ‘artist’ as my occupation. Every time I do it, I think ‘Yeeaaah, I’m an artist. I’m not a mental health client or a beneficiary. I’m an artist. Far out’.”

That’s awesome, I reckon.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Building audiences, Guest writers, National identity, Your stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.