Artists and arts organisations around the country, already opening their doors to disabled audiences and gallery visitors, are profiled in a practical guide called Arts for All: Ngā toi mo te katoa.

Published by Creative New Zealand in partnership with Arts Access Aotearoa, this practical guide provides low-cost and long-term ways to increase access to the arts, market events to the disabled community and build new audiences. Among the organisations profiled are Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Touch Compass Dance Trust, Fortune Theatre, Te Papa, City Gallery Wellington, Jolt Dance Company, The Court Theatre, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and WOMAD.

In the 2006 Statistics New Zealand survey, an estimated 660,300 people (17% of the New Zealand population) had experience of disability. Research conducted by Arts Access Aotearoa shows evidence of significant demand within the disabled community for accessible arts activities and events.

The final chapter lists ten low-cost things organisations can do over the next few weeks and months (e.g. Get in touch with a local disability organisation and start a dialogue. How could you work together?) There’s also a list of ten things to do over the next five years (e.g. Develop an accessibility policy and action plan).

“Grappling with some of the medium to long-term requirements already outlined may feel daunting,” the book states. “But starting with a vision of what you want to achieve over the next one to five years and a comprehensive plan to get there will provide a framework.

“Developing a diverse and loyal audience base can only help your organisation’s reputation and long-term future.”

Information sheets and check lists about accessibility requirements, marketing, ticketing, seating and exhibition design have been developed as online resources to complement the information in Arts For All. These resources can be downloaded from Arts Access Aotearoa’s website.

The two organisations, in partnership with local government, are planning workshops in the new year based on the book and the online resources. Please email Arts Access Aotearoa if you are interested in attending a workshop and receiving email updates.

• You can download a pdf of Arts For All here.
• An accessible Word document is available here.

• You can also order Arts For All from the Creative New Zealand website or you can email Arts Access Aotearoa and order a copy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Building audiences, Culture online, New in the sector, Professional development. 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.