Breathe In

Panellist: Alison Richardson 

Panellist: Autumn Skuthorpe  

Panellist: Mathew Bing

Director/ co- collaborator: Alison Richardson

Musicians: Autumn Skuthorpe and Josh Notting

Multimedia/ Lighting Designer: Freddy Komp

Production Designer: Josh McIntosh

Artist Supports: Suzy Dunne and Mathew Bing

Auslan Interpreter: Holly Menzies

Audio describer: Imogen Yang

This performance has been funded with the support of Ningana Trust.

Alison Richardson  

Alison Richardson is the Artistic Director/ CEO of Crossroad  Arts, a position she has held for the last five years. Her career in the Arts and Disability sector has spanned over 20 years where she has held various positions including; Creative Programs Coordinator for Accessible Arts, Creative Director for Beyond the Square at Riverside Theatres and Access and Inclusion Coordinator for Vivid Sydney and Sydney New Years’ Eve. She has also worked extensively as a theatre director and tutor for many community theatre companies across Sydney. 

Alison highly values the training and development of artists with disability and was the founding director and co-collaborator of RUCKUS, a contemporary performance ensemble in Sydney consisting of 6 performers who also happen to have Down syndrome. Her work and dedication to inclusive arts led her to being awarded the Australian Council for the Arts Young Leaders Award in 2007 and in 2015 a Churchill Fellowship, which enabled her to research disability-led theatre practices and inclusive training programs across Europe and the UK. She was most recently awarded the Mackay Regional Council’s Australia Day Award for Arts and Culture. 

Autumn Skuthorpe  

Autumn Skuthorpe is a Maori wahine (Te Arawa, Tuhoe, Ngati Kahangungu and Ngati Porou) and is an experienced multi-arts practitioner in contemporary performance making. 

Autumn has collaborated alongside resident artist and ambassador Brenden Borellini for over 10 years. As part of the Breathe In collaboration Autumn facilitated weekly online sessions with Georgia Cranko, Brenden Borellini, Alison Richardson and Mathew Bing in the creation of short films featuring original poetry, music and film.  

Autumn is an original singer songwriter that has regularly performed on stages and at festivals including Mackay Festival of the Arts (2016), The Dream Lab and Darebin Arts, Melbourne (2013-2015). Autumn has also composed soundscapes for public performances and digital works including Look Up as part of Animating Spaces, Mackay (2015), Crossroad Arts productions Meetings with Remarkable People Stage 2 (2017), Trails (2016) and Letters on Gordon St (2016) and led creative ageing music workshops at Homefield Aged Care Facility and St Francis of Assisi Home (2016-2017).  

Autumn is an alumni of the 2019 Australia Council for the Arts’ Future Leaders Program that assists with the development of emerging and high potential arts leaders and is the 2020 recipient of the Australia Council for the Arts Kirk Robson Award for Community Arts and Cultural Development. 

Mathew Bing
Mathew Bing has been a Disability Support Worker and Artist Support since 2018. In that time he has worked with Crossroad Arts and Bus Stop Films and Access Arts. Mathew has also produced live competitive painting shows in conjunction with Art Battle. Mathew is passionate about helping to create a more diverse and embracing society.  He is currently the co-owner of Feats of Wonder, a business that runs supported games of Dungeons and Dragons for people with disability.