LGBTIQ+ ELDERS DANCE CLUB
‘I like to dance, it’s great exercise and you don’t have to have a partner to go along, and the dance leaders are great. I live with a mild cognitive impairment and coming along to Dance Club has helped my health improve. It’s important to get people moving and socialising with each other, especially as they get older. I’m always spruiking it to my networks and encouraging people to come along with me. I just love it… There are very few things out there for the Elders of the LGBTIG+ community to go to in our region that we can feel safe and our true selves…’  – Geoff Quibel, a regular attendee at Dance Club

‘The Elders Dance Club events were received wonderfully well by all who attended, particularly after emerging from covid lockdowns. Older LGBTIQA+ people are some our most vulnerable community members. Already experiencing isolation and a disconnect from friends and loved ones, Dance Club provided a much-needed energy boost and a chance to meet new people, reconnect with friends and to access information from Meridian around how to link in with our support services.‘ – Lee Caldwell, Meridian, Manager of Community Development

CREATIVE RESILIENCE AND RECOVERY PROGRAM
‘The residency provided me with an amazing opportunity to open myself to my work in a way that I had not done before. I was finally immersed in something that I loved, painting is healing for me and what I found throughout the residency is that it became a vessel for which I would explore ideas and concepts that have been locked away in my thoughts for a long time. I have never been able to spend the time to truly immerse myself in painting and the residency allowed me to do just that.’ – Jackson Taylor-Grant, Program Artist

LIVE ART LAB
‘Live Art Lab brought me closer to finding out how to prioritise my practice in the day-to-day. After my information-filled meetings with the group, I often went into deep dive of finding new references to help manage my challenged areas of being an artist mother, and managing time and productivity. Deep gratitude to Sia and Rochelle for steering us through an invaluable time, and during an absolutely crucial time in my artist’s journey. The first of its kind for me. Thankyou.’  – Ade Suharto, Live Art Lab Program Artist 2021 

SENSORY ART LAB
‘Just wanted to say we took our 4 1/2 year old to the Sensory Art Lab on Friday. We loved it! We loved all of it – the interactiveness of it, the use of all senses, the fun for all ages! We’d love to see more of these events and more widely advertised. I work at a specialist school and would love to take students to similar events in the future. Loved it all!! Looking forward to similar events in the future.‘ – Sensory Art Lab attendee parent

COMMUNITY ARTIST
‘My name is Vaidehi Subramanyan and I am a Canberra-based Bharatanatyam (South Indian classical) dancer. While I dedicatedly practise my art form, I had very little experience seeking opportunities to perform and putting together productions (and all the administration that goes along with that!) before reaching out to Ainslie+Gorman. As I do not come from a dance school in Canberra, I am a solo artist with only few contacts in the arts community. A+G were incredibly warm, friendly and supportive during my initial conversations with them, and quickly developed an understanding of my dance practice. Accordingly, they provided insights and ideas to me as to how I can transform my artistic practice into a profession, and offered administrative and financial support for me when possible and particularly helpful for me to realise those ideas. Currently, I am putting together a solo production with A+G’s support, and it has been a pleasure working with them to do this.’ – Vaidehi Subramanyan, independent community artist

AINSLIE SALON CONCERT SERIES: LIARS CONCERT
‘It was amazing!!! Such a brilliant performance and so great in the arts centre which has a unique vibe.  
I hadn’t listened to Liars much before, but it was the best act I’ve seen for a long time. I wish more people knew or whatever. At the end, many people were obviously impressed as there were so many people buying LPs and merchandise. The sound was great too. This is the kind of thing I wish that larger community events did as well… for example Enlighten in recent years has been crap for music or art performance… Liars was just so brilliant… Worthy of a large audience and absolutely in fitting and a great initiative of our local community arts centre!‘- Ainslie Salon attendee

Letters of Support from our creative partners, program artists and studio residents.