Executive Director

We are a creative social enterprise that supports artists with intellectual disabilities, promotes their work and advocates for their inclusion in contemporary art practice.

Myra Hilgendorf OAM founded Arts Project Australia in 1974 with the insistence that artists with an intellectual disability have their work presented in a professional manner and that artists were accorded the same dignity and respect as their non-disabled peers.

Our philosophy is to empower people to be professional artists while gaining skills and confidence amongst like-minded peers in a supportive environment. We do this by:

• Encouraging individual artistic expression and personal style
• Providing high-quality materials and a range of media
• Promoting the work as integral to the broad spectrum of contemporary art
• Connecting our artists with other artists, studios and galleries

Artists are at the centre of our work. The artists who occupy our studio each day, or participate through our groundbreaking online platform - Satellite Arts, offer themselves and their work with openness and honesty, and as such, what is created is something authentic, driven by the individual, delivered with humility, accomplishment, and often a sense of humour.

The artists and their practices are the bedrock of all we do; their unique voices and creative vision are at the heart of our organisation. And because of them, we are, and continue to be, a leader in our field.

Over the years the Board and leaders of Arts Project Australia have developed a range of goals, strategies and outcomes, giving us a clear direction and ensuring that we’re responding to new and changing external factors.