The annual Outsider Art Exhibition showcases artwork by artists with a disability or disabilities. Greenacres Disability Services hosted the exhibition which opened on September 14, 2023 at The Project Contemporary Art Space in Wollongong. Victoria Velozo is the art therapist and event curator and Natalie Adams is one of the artists. Photo of Ms Velozo by Robert Peet. Video by Marlene Even
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00:00 All the artists have a disability, some have multiple disabilities.
00:04 The idea is to have fun, so if they're not having fun,
00:07 you know, we're not doing the right thing.
00:08 So, yeah, just to come and relax, chill out, talk to their friends.
00:12 And art's a great medium for that.
00:15 It gives them... Even if they don't know the person next to them,
00:18 they can talk about their art and what they're doing or even passing them.
00:22 So it's great to break down those barriers of communication and meeting people.
00:29 When I see them coming in so excited,
00:31 and then again so excited to have sold an artwork,
00:34 I think towards the community, it's really engaging for them to come in
00:40 and they talk to the artists.
00:41 It was for dogs.
00:43 Dogs, lovely.
00:44 And I don't know what the other one was.
00:47 I think it was for Elvis.
00:48 I'm more like a dog person, so I really like dogs.
00:52 Can you tell me about what it's been like to create this artwork?
00:56 Oh, I like it.
01:00 It's fun.
01:02 It's quite relaxing.
01:06 And just doing good drawings or different arts.
01:11 Yeah.
01:12 Yeah, it's good that everyone's coming in for it.
01:17 Yeah.
01:18 Oh, we've been getting ready for this all year.
01:21 So what we do, we have the annual exhibition,
01:23 and then we go back in and everyone's so excited.
01:27 They're like, "What are we doing for next year?"
01:29 Yeah, straight back into it.
01:30 Yeah, we're straight back into it.
01:31 We plan.
01:33 Well, we don't plan too much, but we'll say, "Okay, who are we going to do next year?"
01:36 And so people can start working towards that.
01:39 And we try and get a variation.
01:44 Like, I don't know, we did some Australian plants,
01:48 and then we wanted some wild animals and some sea creatures.
01:51 So we might set a theme, only because when people get to the studio,
01:55 they go, "I don't know what to do, and I haven't got any ideas."
01:59 And so we can say, "Oh, well, what about jellyfish?"
02:01 And that sets them down that path.
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