Message from the President and CEO

More than a year ago, the National accessArts Centre (NaAC) started to pull together an idea that had long been explored within our organization – to create space for a conversation about and with artists living with developmental disabilities. While many conferences and gatherings have convened around the broader topic of “disability arts,” the NaAC was acutely aware that there was no attempt in recent history to specifically think about and envision an arts and culture ecosystem that would better support and integrate the creative contributions of neurodiverse artists.

In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this was a major challenge. But with the encouragement of our main funders – Canada Council for the Arts – and a growing number of sponsors and community partners, we forged ahead.

As the months flew by and we got closer to our May 2-5 timeframe, we started to observe increasing anxiety around the concept of an openended conversation. What were the outcomes? Was this for, with, about artists living with developmental disabilities? We even had doubt whether others outside of our own community would find an interest in engaging in this conversation. But guided by our incredible team of facilitators, Kathi Irvine and Geoff Powter, and our staff at the NaAC, we were committed to this concept that this would be a conversation, sparked by some extraordinary keynote speakers and panel discussions, but left to be open-ended and organic, involving artists living with developmental disabilities, caregivers, disability support workers, arts administrators, and arts funders.

Through this anxiety and ambiguity, we saw absolute magic when BEGINNING: A National Conversation was underway in Vancouver and Banff, and virtually through our livestream. In both locations, lively discussions were observed throughout the duration of the event. New connections were made. New ideas were discovered. And there was this sense of excitement and comfort that was simultaneously present – excitement that this was the first time such a gathering was taking place. And comfort quickly discovered when realizing that everyone was gathered for the same reason.

In Banff, which served as the conference headquarters, delegates witnessed spontaneity – artists broke into dance to creatively respond to what they were hearing. They would sit at the same table with keynote speakers and enter into deep discussions about the future of the arts. And take the time to explore their surroundings, reflecting on their conversations and their learnings.

It was truly magical to witness.

Immediately following the event, we’ve now started to field questions and comments from delegates, panelists, and speakers – all asking the same question: What will we do next year?

Frankly, we’ve started something big, and we’ve already started to have internal conversations at the NaAC to keep this momentum going.

Stay tuned – and enjoy what we’ve been able to uncover this year.

Yours sincerely,

Jung-Suk (JS) Ryu

President and CEO National accessArts Centre

Delegates in Banff work through a team building exercise as part of BEGINNING: A National Conference. (Credit: Pixel Kim)