Azzy Jay

OK first a bit of history.....A long time ago (about 6 years) in a galaxy far, far away (Alice Springs) I met some amazing, talented men... They all had intellectual (and some physical) disabilities, and were making an EPIC costume for the Alice Springs Wearable Arts Awards.   I had no idea about Wearable Arts but through working with the group I found out that it is COLOUR! EXCITEMENT! FUN! OUTRAGEOUSNESS! CREATIVITY! and that anyone can have a go.  Wearable Art as a medium welcomes diversity and celebrates difference - all you really need is the passion to create and the spark of an idea....   Anyways.. through working with this group I got to experience this amazing art form that enables the artists to push boundaries, explore their imaginations, develop artistically and to be completely immersed and included in a high energy, bright lights, catwalk superstar event! The Wearable Arts Awards brings the artistic community together through a love of WOW!! it is a mind blowing visual feast of creativity, energy, laughter and light and is FUN FUN FUN!!!

                     
                                                   Anthony Bechaz as 'Storm' in the Weather Collection, 2012
                                                     
A couple of years ago I scored my dream job as Creative Expressions Coordinator at Alkira, a rocking little Not-For-Profit in Box Hill, Melbourne where there are a wonderful group of creative, hilarious and enthusiastic artists who were keen to make costumes and have their own catwalk experiences… and so we began...  The Alkira Wearable Arts program has now been running for 2 and a half years. in that time the artists have produced 2 collections of costumes and several individual pieces.  The Artists have taken part in catwalks at  'ARTRAGEOUS', International Day of People with a Disability celebrations, have won 1st and 3rd prize in the Royal Melbourne Show, hosted 3 exhibitions and are participating in Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival 2015!!! GO TEAM!!!

                      
                                               
                                                 Deborah Simpson as 'The Sun' in the Weather Collection, 2012

The group asked me where had the idea to run the program come from??  So I told them about my experience in Alice Springs,  They were like "Cooooooooooollllll"...

...and then they said "lets go to Alice"...

...that's where you come in!                                                                                                                                                

So.. the numbers huh... Well all up the trip to Alice is going to cost about $23,000....thats for the 8 Artists that want to go, 2 support staff,  6 nights accommodation, flights,  van hire, food, fun and freight as well as a one day wearable art workshop while we are there.   The  Artists are contributing $1000 each - which for someone on a disability pension is a fair whack of cash.  We are hoping to raise enough to take the Artists to Uluru, go sunset camel riding and experience an overnight bush camp.  In addition to this pozible campaign we are fundraising in house, through raffles, sausage sizzles and anything else we can think of to meet the total.  

                        

                                                                  Deborah Simpson learning to hand tack, 2014

For the longer term vision we are hoping to raise an additional $10,000 on top of cost for the trip -  and that is to pay working artists to come and provide workshops in wearable Art over the next two years.  This will develop the artists skills, build community relationships and open doors to a whole range of exhibitions and events  -  Arts and Community grants are being written to facilitate this, but if we are lucky enough to have hit our total please keep giving, arts grants are hard to win!! 

Alice Trip Breakdown 

Flights  X 10                          $8000
Accommodation                   $2500
Staffing                                  $4500
Food, drinks                          $3000
Van hire                                 $2000
Activities                                $1500
Workshop                                $500
Freight                                      $300
Entry to Awards                       $300

TOTAL                                   $22,600


                              

                                                                       Helen Shoebridge as 'Swan Lake', 2013

If we don't make the cash then we can't go, that is obvious! It is a great project and we hope that wider community supports the project.  Accessing arts grants to provide skill share workshops is an ongoing process, and if this Pozible campaign is successful it will show the funding bodies that the community is behind the project and that the Alkira Wearable Arts group is worth investing in!

A couple of the artists experience stage fright, and in high caliber events such as Melbourne Fashion Festival and the Wearable Arts Awards the artists have to train to present themselves professionally.  To overcome this challenge the artists will be working in partnership with choreographers to develop their stage presence to create the best possible performances, and we will be running dress rehearsals from July 2015 in preparation.  

The artists themselves face some challenges, the obvious ones being the physical and intellectual difficulties they experience.  What is not so obvious but very real are the barriers of exclusion, of perceived limits, of judgments, access and budgets.   This project has a big picture outlook which by increasing the artist's confidence, developing skill and providing opportunities to be part of inclusive, exciting events, works towards breaking down some of these barriers.

If you would like more information about the project, would like to invite the artists to participate in future events or are interested in finding out more about Alkira, please contact us on +61398901365 or visit the website at www.alkira.org.au.

Thank you for your time, consideration and for your support. Please share this campaign with your friends, families and anyone else you can think of!

With Love

xxXXXXxx

                  

                                                        Peter Dempsey - 'When handbags become hats 2012'