Abilities Arts Festival

The Shows Will Go On

By Roberta Osborne and Pierre Tetrault

A Word from the Chair, Roberta Osborne

Like all arts organizations and non-profits, the Abilities Arts Festival had a very rough 2008 and a lean 2009. Many board meetings were spent discussing the fate of the organization and the festival. However, the power of disability art and culture prevailed and the Abilities Arts Festival has made it through. We couldn’t have done it without the help of a strong community of volunteers and supporters and, of course, the talent of the artists.

It is with a sigh of relief that we welcome the spring and with excitement that I welcome four talented new board members to the organization—Steve Kean, Michelle Amerie, Flavio Belli and Penny Schincariol—who each bring their own area of expertise and contribution to the organization.

Steve is a photographer who has contributed his incredible work to Abilities Arts Festival events and exhibits. Michelle is an artist of many mediums; she is a sculpture, painter, photographer and writer. Flavio possesses a wide range of experience in the arts community and recently worked with the Abilities Arts Festival on the Connections exhibit at Queen’s Park. Penny has worked in the accommodation service industry as an American Sign Language English interpreter for 25 years and we have been delighted to have her at many festival events over the years, including the 2009 Film Forum and Children’s Festival.

In 2010, the Abilities Arts Festival will continue to showcase artistic excellence by artists with disabilities. On behalf of the entire board of directors, I am very happy to welcome Pierre Tetrault, the festival’s new artistic director, to lead this process. Pierre brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to the organization and we are very grateful to have his talent, experience and drive to lead the wide range of multidisciplinary, visual, film and performing arts festivals and events that will make up the 2010 season.

A Word from the Artistic Director, Pierre Tetrault

It has been an amazing time here during my early days as artistic director of the Abilities Arts Festival. Before I had my first job interview, I researched the Festival’s history and was astounded by the range of talent that was presented. This also increased my awareness of the talent on the local, national and international scenes.

One of our first new initiatives will be committing resources to the development of local talent through a series of artist showcases where local artists will have an opportunity to present their developing work to audiences. This will provide them with valuable insights into what is working and what needs work—an invaluable part of the artistic process.

These showcases will also give us the chance to identify what work could go on to be featured at our yearly Festival, which will continue to present the best of local, national and international work.

This year’s Festival will feature local artist Ahmed Hassan, a musical composer and playwright who has collaborated with many other outstanding Canadian artists, such as Peggy Baker and Robert Desrosiers. We will be featuring a retrospective of some of his finest work.

We will also be inviting the Igneous group from Australia, who will present their acclaimed work Mirage, a multimedia production exploring the “phantom limb experience” with an interactive component that is sure to fascinate the participant.

We will be continuing to grow the children’s section of the Festival with a colourful group of local and national performers, including mimes Christopher Welsh and Max Fomitchev. We also hope to bring in the sensational Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli, the breakdancing star of the Paralympics 2010 opening ceremonies.

We have been in discussion with Sheila Boyd, a board member and ACTRA representative, Lisa Brown of Workman Arts, and Rose Jacobson of Picasso Pro to help us develop a list of local talent. We will also be in touch with other national and international festival representatives, looking for coproductions and possible artist exchanges.

With “mainstream” audiences’ growing awareness of the incredible diversity of expression coming from artists with disabilities, this is an exciting time to be part of this emerging, and increasingly self-confident, art scene. I am honoured and inspired to be a part of it.

Is there an artist that you think should be considered for the Abilities Arts Festival? Email info@abilitiesartsfestival.org.