The International Day of People with Disability was celebrated at Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre this week in a vibrant community gathering.
The occasion included the unveiling of a new mural called “Wonderland” created by students of the centre’s Disability Art Class and Day Care program.
The centre supports young people with disabilities who live in the local area to come together and be provided with activities that help them foster new friendships and skills in art and cooking and to engage in community events.
The Wonderland artwork was unveiled on Wednesday, December 6 at the centre to celebrate International Day of People with Disability, which was officially on Sunday, December 3.
It was created by students ranging in age from 19 and depicts the beauties of the local environment, full of sunshine, trees, flowers and butterflies.
The centre’s Disability Art Program aims to empower local people with a disability to engage with and be active contributors to their community, Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre chief executive officer, Anne Farrah Hill said.
About 15 to 25 participants join in the program every session since it began in February.
“We’ve launched this artwork as a celebration of the program and to demonstrate the enjoyment that our participants get out of exploring their creativity,” Ms Farah Hill said.
“We have been supporting young people with disabilities and their families for the past five years and designed this program to provide activities and services for people who are 18 years and over in the Kingsgrove and St George areas.
“We were grateful to receive a $13,000 grant from Club Central Hurstville which enabled us to provide this as a free service to the community,” she said.
Club Central director, Sandra Coogan helped launch the artwork and congratulated the group on the finished piece.
“It’s fantastic to see the difference this program is making and Club Central is proud to be able to support community members with a disability to connect and engage with each other in a meaningful way,” Ms Coogan said.
Ms Farah Hill said that since the classes started, the participants have shown improvements in their interpersonal and independent living skills through the yoga and cooking segments of the program.
“Based on the feedback, we hope to continue the program and introduce more fun activities with clay modelling, singing, dancing, cook and outdoor activities,” she said.
A further eight pieces of art from Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre’s Disability
Art Class will be displayed at the Civic Theatre Hurstville with electronic copies on screen rotation at Westfield Hurstville, as part of the Georges River Council’s International Day of People with Disability celebrations.