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ABC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Mount Gambier's queer art trail celebrates regional creators during Pride Month
Chelsea Dynan has only been in Mount Gambier a short time, but reconnecting with art has helped her find her place in her new home. To start Pride Month, a queer art trail has been established to promote LGBTQIA+ visibility in common community spaces. Dynan has entered art competitions and exhibitions before, including winning the Packer Prize at the Penola Art Show. But putting her work in the first local queer art trail as a bisexual woman has been one of her most vulnerable experiences. "When I was back home, I didn't feel safe to be myself. "Having this opportunity and showcasing that we can put ourselves out there and be seen and heard and feel safe in doing so, that's been the biggest impact for me." Dynan's art captured a group she felt a strong connection with — medical students who had just moved from home to Mount Gambier to study. "I wanted to celebrate other people as well as being able to showcase myself in some form of anonymity, so that it's not me in the image," she said. "I get to celebrate women and other people who are living in this township." The queer art trail includes work from LGBTQIA+ artists throughout the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. The exhibition is on display in public places throughout SA's second-largest city, including the Riddoch Art Gallery, shopping centres and cafes. Artworks are on display from people aged nine to 50. Kit Cooper helped organise the event and also entered their own pyrography work, something they started after being diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). "These particular pieces were created from a point of calm and zen, just a chance to centre myself amidst the chaos. "I have four children and obviously a lot of organisation going on, so my art is my safe space for myself." Cooper said having the exhibition in busy places in Mount Gambier was important. "I'm incredibly proud of what has been pulled together," they said. "The artists have come together, the community is taking notice and appreciating queer artists. "It's been wonderful seeing it be so successful, more successful than I admit I even estimated that it might." Patrick Smith has been a long-term advocate for queer representation in Mount Gambier and is working on a set of artworks for a full solo exhibition in his home town. He said visibility for the local LGBTQIA+ community was important to create lasting change. "The incidental appearance of queer iconography, queer motifs, and themes is also to show that you are going to bump into a queer person regardless of the space you're going to be in," he said. Smith said his art focused on subverting the normalised way of looking at the human body. "You can then get a very homogeneous and very staid look on the world," he said. "But to be able to bring in different ways, different angles, to interpret and understand the world around us, it will only make it better and richer."
ABC News
26-04-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Disability advocates call for more funding to fix regional footpaths
Travelling along the footpath should be a relatively simple exercise, but for many people poorly maintained pathways pose a challenge, especially in regional centres. Mount Gambier resident Kit Cooper said when she was able-bodied she was unaware of the issue but that changed when she was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) last May. The genetic condition causes her heart rate to increase abnormally and can lead to dizziness, light-headedness and fainting. Kit Cooper struggles to navigate the footpaths in Mount Gambier. ( ABC South East SA: Sam Bradbrook ) "It's easy to miss the things until it's affecting you," Ms Cooper said. "As a part-time wheelchair user, I have become aware that a lot of the places that I used to frequent are … inaccessible without support from a carer or a partner." Sharon Morgan, a Port Lincoln resident who had a leg amputated in 2011, said she had been forced to use the road because of badly maintained footpaths and poorly designed ramps. Sharon Morgan is often forced to use the road because of poorly planned and maintained footpaths. ( ABC Eyre Peninsula: Tim McGlone ) "A lot of people who can get around normally can't see there being a problem," she said. Dozens of people told the ABC of recurring issues regarding inaccessible ramps, damaged paths and concrete slabs lifted by tree roots. Disability advocate Cyanne Westerman said such problems could increase the isolation of those living with mobility issues. Cyanne Westerman says more needs to be done to make footpaths accessible for those with mobility issues. ( ABC North and West SA: Arj Ganesan ) Ms Westerman, who lives with limb girdle muscular dystrophy, struggles to find a usable footpath for her motorised wheelchair even when she is just outside her Whyalla home. "I often go on the road where it's a lot smoother, but it's also dangerous because of the cars," she said. Who is responsible? Footpath maintenance is the responsibility of local government. The City of Port Lincoln and Whyalla City Council both have disability access and inclusion plans that highlight footpath and ramp access as issues. Whyalla Council's 2020-24 plan showed that almost 60 per cent of people living with a disability had difficulty accessing footpaths and ramps. Patches of unsealed footpaths are a common sight in regional cities. ( ABC North and West SA: Arj Ganesan ) Port Lincoln mayor Diana Mislov said footpath upgrades were often tied to larger projects, which made them more likely to meet the criteria for grant funding. "Whereas roads and footpaths and even stormwater [maintenance], to some degree, are just less attractive," she said. Cr Mislov said there were not enough major projects to ensure the city's footpaths were adequately maintained. State funding needed Ms Westerman's twin sister Zia, a Whyalla councillor who shares her disability, says local governments are often tied up in "red tape" and have limited budgets. "Local councils are doing their best," she said. "I think it's time for someone else to step in and help them do more." She is one of many disability advocates calling on the state government to fund upgrades to footpaths. Whyalla City Council Mayor Phill Stone says councils are in need of state government support. ( Supplied: Whyalla City Council ) Whyalla Mayor Phill Stone said the council spent about $600,000 a year on footpath maintenance. "If governments could establish a particular fund to give us access to extra funding, that would be a move in the right direction," he said. A spokesperson from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport said councils were responsible for footpath maintenance, but there were various state and Commonwealth infrastructure grants they could apply for. Councils could also access financial assistance grants by the Local Government Grants Commission, the spokesperson said. The Local Government Association and the City of Mount Gambier Council were both contacted for comment. Public consultation on the draft state disability inclusion plan commenced earlier this month and will close on May 15.
