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.

Recent exhibitions

2025 - InvisAbility: Be Seen, By Choice

Poster headline: Be Seen, By Choice. Every face tells a story. Eight separate images of self-portraits as black and white sketches and faces made of cardboard collage.

InvisAbility: Be Seen, By Choice was a powerful art exhibition exploring portraits of individuals who choose how they are seen. Transforming the Town Hall Ballroom into a sensory experience through projection, soundscapes and visual storytelling.

The program aimed 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.

2023 - ELEVATE

A futuristic city with glass domed buildings and flying cars and buses

The ELEVATE exhibition certainly rose above, opening with the Sound Barriers who lifted the Hobart Town Hall ballroom into another stratosphere with its rockin' tunes.

The exhibition invited you to explore three unique spaces starting in a futuristic city where Absolutely Everybody was invited, to then enter the Launching Pad to be catapulted into the Intergalactic Space Station.

This exhibition program was the celebration of creativity, accessibility and inclusivity which also included a market place for artists to directly sell their work and interactive performances.

To experience a snapshot of the exhibition view the video below made by Bree Sanders, with audio descriptions by VisAbility.

2022 - Next Level

Illustrations of an ear, mouth, nose, eye and mouth, alongside the words Ability to Create 2022, Next Level, A Sensory Exhibition

2022's Ability to Create (ATC) Sensory Exhibition certainly was Next Level.

This exhibition was the celebration of creativity, accessibility and inclusivity with additions of a tactile map, audio descriptions and captions to enable everyone to fully experience the exhibition.

There was a market place for artists to directly sell their work, a full program of performances and interactive workshops throughout the three days.

Background

Ability to Create launch event in the Ballroom

The Ability to Create exhibition was born in 2013, when we were 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. He aimed to create awareness in the broader community of their talents and skills. Freddy identified groups who create regularly. He worked with them to stage a fantastic exhibition at the 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
  • connecting creative people.
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