Board Update: Networking, Meeting Place, and Staff Farewells

On behalf of the Arts Access Australia Board, I am pleased to provide you an update on our current activities and our plans for the year ahead.

Our first online Disability-Only Forum late last year highlighted how invaluable your experiences and feedback are to AAA. As a result of direct feedback from this Forum, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting a series of four virtual networking events this year. These Connecting Creatives events will be completely free for our Members, with our first event to be held on Wednesday 21 April. I hope to see you there!

I am also pleased to announce that Meeting Place will go ahead for 2021! We are in planning for a hybrid online and in-person event, to be held towards the end of the year. Don’t forget to register for Meeting Place to receive all the updates.

And in more exciting news, we are proud to again present the National Arts and Disability Awards for 2021 with the Australia Council for the Arts. We will be presenting our $10k National Leadership Award at the event for the third year running, thanks to the generous support of the Feilman Foundation.

2021 has begun with some deep discussion and meditation on the vision and mission of Arts Access Australia moving forward. The Board and CEO have met several times to discuss our goals for 2021 and 2022 in light of the loss of our multi-year funding from the Australia Council for the Arts.

Financial security remains a key focus for Arts Access Australia this year, with the organisation working hard to secure core operating funding to support the organisation into the future.

We continue to engage with State organisations and key strategic partners/influencers including Office of the Arts, Australia Council for the Arts, NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission and other key allies and peak organisations. These strong relationships underpin everything we do and are vital to advancing equity in the arts for d/Deaf and disabled Australians.

We have also begun the year focusing on our valued membership and discussing how we can improve how we communicate with and support our membership to thank them for their loyalty. Our new Connecting Creatives networking series is just part of the way we are hoping to connect more with our Members.

We would also like to farewell staff member Maxxi May, who completed her contract with AAA at the end of 2020, and Board Member Leah Maund after four outstanding years of service on the Board. We wish Maxxi and Leah the very best for the future, and thank them for their invaluable contributions toward furthering equity for d/Deaf and disabled Australians in the arts.

Lastly, AAA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be happening in May, with nominations for new Board Members opening soon. Please keep an eye on your inbox for all the information.