Brand X welcomes professional theatre director Dan Graham to the newly created position of Access Consultant. Dan will convene and lead an Access Panel of professional artists with a disability to audit Brand X and recommend accessibility improvements.

Along with his extensive theatre directing credits, Dan is an active and passionate advocate for arts practitioners with disabilities. His position is designed to establish models of best practice in the engagement of and ongoing support for artists with a disability. The outcome will be an Inclusion Action Plan which will set targets to ensure Brand X is inclusive for all professional artists in Sydney.

Dan explains: “Drawing on our shared lived experiences, the artist will be at the centre of the Panel’s focus to ensure authentic voices are represented in the cultural sector of Sydney. Our job is to find practical solutions that Brand X can adopt to enable a nuanced approach to accessibility and inclusion. I see this as the first step to long-term change that will result in the voices of artists with a disability having exposure to Sydney’s stages, galleries and screens. We are moving past the community model to embed equality so all artists have the space to create.”

Working closely with the Director (James Winter), Programs Manager (Aesha Henderson) and Venue Manager (Paul Lockwood), the Access Panel  will provide artists with a disability equitable access to our affordable studio spaces. Artists with a disability will also be encouraged to apply for tenancies and residencies.

Dan will also advocate for applications from artists with a disability on Peer Assessment panels and identify mechanisms to ensure artists with a disability thrive in their creative practice with Brand X.

For information on this announcement please contact [email protected]