Disability Arts Online (DAO) is an arts organisation and registered charity led by disabled people. We occupy a unique global position with our UK-based website, social media network, commissioning and artist development programmes, partnership work, and vibrant community of disabled creatives. The DAO team is a friendly group of expert individuals who work together to take action for social justice, countering the ‘tragedy model’ that society is so deeply invested in. We exist to serve artists and arts audiences and, in doing so, to enable social change. Disability Arts Online has a rich history of challenging dominant narratives, championing the development of disability arts and breaking down barriers to arts engagement from a disability-led position. We recognise disability is an intersectional experience. We loudly and proudly nurture an equitable community space for everyone. As a digital destination, in 2019/20 Disability Arts Online welcomed over 100k visitors, garnering 262k page views. DAO’s Facebook group is full of fascinating and diverse dialogue with artists, writers and disabled audience-members which now has 6.3k members. DAO currently has 4.4k followers on Facebook, 16.2k followers on Twitter, 3.6k followers on Instagram and 2.4k people are subscribed to the weekly newsletter. All of Disability Arts Online’s social media channels are highly engaged. Our core audience is unique, in that it is made up of disabled artists and professionals working in the arts, as well as disabled audience members.As well as filling Disability Arts Online with great content, we also help the arts and cultural sector to improve their work with disabled artists and audiences. . Disability Arts Online has an increasingly international focus including an ongoing relationship with The Korea Disability Arts and Culture Centre, I-EUM. I was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen's 2021 New Year's Honours list for services to disabled artists during Covid-19.

https://jhg.art/

Sue Austin and I co-founded Freewheeling to support the development of her artistic practice. We formed the limited company in 2014, whilst receiving funds from the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts for a project called 360 Degrees - a New Angle on Access. This explored 360º video technology as an artistic medium that could be accessed in an affordable way for individual artists to use, and access by audiences in exhibition venues and their own homes via VR heists. Freewheeling continues to support Sue to deliver 'Creating the Spectacle!' a long-term durational artwork that sees her place and perform the wheelchair in unexpected places in order to highlight it as an object which represents freedom rather than restriction.

I undertake freelance contracts for fundraising and project development. Much of this work is now focused on providing access support for funding applications. Previous clients include Sue Austin, Aidan Moesby, Christine Finn and Liz Crow.

A unique combination of practical enabling support for Sue to attend the MA Fine Art course at Plymouth University and guidance and assistance with project development and funding applications outside of the MA.Sue and I collaborate together under Freewheeling, an emerging disability led initiative focused on providing a ‘hub’ around which to foster integrated arts projects, allowing ideas and artistic concepts to develop while maintaining an emphasis on promoting academic research that aims to reposition Disability Arts and the status of disabled artists within the mainstream cultural sector.

LinkUpArts is a network supporting disabled people in the arts based at Salisbury Arts Centre. Recently the organisation extended it's reach from Salisbury and South Wiltshire to across the South West region through a project funded by the Arts Council's Impact Fund. This project is known as LUAN, the LinkUpArtists' Network for 'career' artists.