Ability to Create

Space rock

This program is so much more than an art exhibition. The Ability to Create (ATC) program is a model for access, inclusion and creativity for the City of Hobart.

The aim of the program is to:

  • upskill mentor artists to work collaboratively with all ability artists
  • enable 'Art for Everyone'
  • be a multi-disciplinary program that is ambitious and inspirational
  • increase understanding about access and inclusion across the organisation and the broader community and lead by example.

Ability to Create 2025 InvisAbility – Be Seen, By Choice

Ability to Create 2025 - InvisAbility

This year the City of Hobart has received support through Arts Tasmania's Industry Development program to deliver Ability to Create. This will provide all artists with a longer lead up time for creativity, greater community engagement through collaborative workshops and increased leadership from the Ability to Create organisations and artists.

Theme

The theme for this next exhibition program is InvisAbility: Be Seen, By Choice

This program aims to:

  • Make artists visible
  • Remove stigma and bias around hidden disability
  • Increase community understanding of the term 'disability' to include people who identify as neuro-divergent or have other unseen disabilities.

Mentor artists

The City of Hobart is pleased to announce the next three selected arts practitioners who will work with and support all-ability artists, in the development of artwork for the Ability to Create 2025 InvisAbility exhibition. These artists will be guided by Second Echo Ensemble (SEE), as the mentor organisation.

The artists were selected through an EOI process, which was assessed by a panel looking for specific skills in sound design, digital content and visual arts. 

Carry Littleford

Cary Littleford

Cary Littleford emerged artistically as VJ Smucklepod in 2010. Since then he has gone on to do live VJ performances, develop interactive installations, small to large-scale projection mapping displays and performances at various events. He was honoured to receive the Tasmanian Theatre Award 2023 for Best Video/Lighting Design Professional Theatre.

What excites you about this ATC InvisAbility exhibition program?

We all experience times of being invisible in life and it can manifest in so many ways. I look forward to bringing my technical and movement creativity to join others in exploring what invisibility can mean and how it can enable creative play within a large space. With the flexibility of projection I hope to explore new worlds and have a lot of engaging fun while doing so.

Jude Elliot

Jude Elliot

Jude has 25 years of experience in the arts industry throughout Australia, LA and New York, encompassing roles as a writer, creative producer, recording artist and touring musician. Jude has cultivated a diverse professional portfolio of works across music, theatre and literature. An award-winning songwriter, she has worked alongside some of the world’s finest musicians and music producers as a writer and studio vocalist, recording seven albums and touring extensively. 

What excites you about this ATC InvisAbility exhibition program?

I am excited to be one of the artists chosen to work as part of the 2025 Ability to Create InvisAbility program. Working together within the community and alongside other artists, we will endeavour to produce innovative creative works, which tell stories and create awareness around the theme making the invisible, visible.

Lorenz Cherry – a woman’s head with long brown hair and laughing eyes and mouth. She is wearing triangular pink beaded earrings, with a colourful textured bag/purse artwork in the background.

Lorenz Cherry

Tasmanian-based artist Lorenz Cherry excels in transforming discarded and culturally obsolete items into striking contemporary art. Driven by a fascination with collecting and the history of pre-loved objects, she specialises in sculpture and installation art. 

You can view Lorenz’s artwork on her Instagram page. 

What excites you about this ATC InvisAbility exhibition program?

I’m excited to be part of the InvisAbility exhibition program, a groundbreaking model for access, inclusion and creativity in Hobart. The Ability to Create (ATC) program is a powerful initiative that exemplifies how art can bridge gaps and celebrate diversity. I'm delighted to be involved in such a transformative initiative and look forward to collaborating with everyone!  

About Ability to Create

The Ability to Create exhibition was born in 2013 when the City of Hobart was approached by Freddy Lee-Mount, a community member living with a disability.

Freddy was committed to an idea of celebrating the creativity and talent of all ability artists in Hobart and creating awareness in the broader community of their talents and skills. Determined to develop a project with City of Hobart staff, Freddy identified groups who create regularly and worked with them to stage a fantastic exhibition at City of Hobart's Waterside Pavilion. Since then, the exhibition has occurred annually and grown from strength to strength in many amazing and creative ways.

The Ability to Create exhibitions are a platform for enhancing a sense of place, nurturing creativity, celebrating artistic excellence and, most importantly, connecting creative people.

See examples of previous work on the Ability to Create past exhibitions page.

Ability to Create past exhibitions

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