Lights! Camera! Advocacy!

12/21/21 • 16 min

Visibility – a space for people with intellectual disability to share their stories.

Gerard O'Dwyer is an actor, speaker and performer with Down Syndrome.

Gerard uses his profile to challenge social stereotypes and his work includes
dramatic performances in film, television and theatre.

He was awarded Best Male Actor at Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival in 2009, Best Short Film Award and Best Male Actor runner up in the Short & Sweet short play festival in 2011 amongst others.

In 2010, 2011 and 2015 Gerard was selected as an Ambassador for the NSW state government Don’t DISMyABILITY campaign and he has featured in an advertisement for the NSW government CareCareers campaign.

Gerard has been featured as an Archibald Prize entry by artist Rita Karagelinian in her portrait entitled 'Conversations with a leading man'.

In this episode Gerard shares with us his experience being an actor, speaker and
performer with Down syndrome.

Gerard O'Dwyer is an actor, speaker and performer with Down Syndrome.

Gerard uses his profile to challenge social stereotypes and his work includes
dramatic performances in film, television and theatre.

Gerard has been featured as an Archibald Prize entry by artist Rita Karagelinian in her portrait entitled 'Conversations with a leading man'.

In this episode Gerard shares with us his experience being an actor, speaker and
performer with Down syndrome.

Previous Episode

Painting for love and a living

Lauren is an artist at Studio A. Studio A makes great art and specifically provides professional development to artists with intellectual disability.

Lauren gets her inspiration from nature; looking at different plants, animals and landscapes.

Her paintings were exposed in the Art Gallery NSW.

In this episode Lauren share with us what it means to be an artist with intellectual disability.

Next Episode

Dancer, Director and Dreamer

Jianna is a professional dancer and director at Adelaide’s award-winning Restless Dance Theatre.
She has performed interstate and internationally, winning accolades since she began dancing professionally at age 14.
She has recently been appointed as an Associate Artist of Philip Channells / Dance Integrated Australia and travels regularly with the company in the role of Choreographic / Workshop Assistant.
In this episode Jianna shares with us her love for dancing, directing, friendship and fun!