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Beasley wins inaugural OzCo Arts and Disability Award for an emerging artist

Tennant Creek-based artist and illustrator Dion Beasley was one of three winners at the Australia Council’s inaugural Arts and Disability Awards, presented at a ceremony at Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery on 3 December.

Beasley received the $20,000 award for an emerging artist. With writer Johanna Bell, Beasley has illustrated three books in the ‘Cheeky Dogs’ series (Allen & Unwin), the most recent of which is Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back. Beasley, who has muscular dystrophy and is profoundly deaf, was cited for ‘using his passion for drawing as a means of communicating with others’.

The other artists to receive awards were artistic director Janice Florence, who received the $50,000 award for an established artist, and theatre maker Madeleine Little, who received the $10,000 leadership award.

For more information about the awards, click here.

 

Category: Awards Junior Local news