Congratulations Chris Bunton, dancer and theatre artist

Congratulations to Chris Bunton, who has named by Minister for the Arts, George Souris, as one of the 13 recipients of this year's NSW Amplify Your Art Grants.

“The Amplify your art program supports artists with disability to live creative lives and to fulfil their artistic aspirations,” Mr Souris said.

“The funding is part of the NSW Government’s two-year, $1.5 million funding commitment to boost access to arts and cultural activities for people with disability across NSW.

“These grants help foster a lively arts culture in NSW, promote creative expression, and support audience engagement and learning.

“This funding will support a range of professional development opportunities for the artists including mentoring, residencies and training in new skills.”

Minister for Disability Services, John Ajaka, said this was a great initiative for people living with disability to unlock their creative abilities.

The Minister's media release listing all the awards said of Chris's award:

Emerging dancer and theatre artist, Chris Bunton (St Clair) will receive $10,000 to undertake dance and theatre training programs and work experience with Kay Armstrong at Connect Studios, Parramatta. 

Chris is an active young man, involved with the arts and his community through many activities at which he excels.  He has previously featured in a number of blog posts here, in Special Olympics events, and in the general press. See his thoughts about dance in this interview for Accessible Arts during the Catalyst Dance Masterclass series in 2013, and his artist's profile for Beyond the Square's Ruckus Ensemble here.

Well done, Chris - we look forward to seeing how your dance and theatre practice develops with your Amplify grant.

The full list of Amplify your art grants for 2014 is available here.