You Belong Bench Artist
Matt Carberry
Matt Carberry’s whimsical, character-based art is an invitation to engage with your inner child and spark as sense of play. As a neuro-divergent artist, Carberry says his ADHD is more like a secret weapon than a disability. “I have a mind that refuses to be silent,” he says. “Its secret skill is to combine ideas in a unique way. From mixing up words, to combining imagery, my mind produces very entertaining scenarios.” He adds that the supportive community around him has informed the spirit of the characters you see in his art.
Matt is working with National AccessArts Centre on his You Belong Art Bench.
Matt was paid a fair artist’s fee for his work on this project. And, if you particularly love his bench, we invite you to send him a tip too!
Non-Profit Partner: National Access Arts Centre
Indefinite Arts Centre, Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization, recently rebranded to become the National accessArts Centre (NaAC), setting the stage for Calgary to become Canada’s capital for the disability arts movement.
This new identity is further defined by the Centre’s recent mergers with two Calgary-based disability arts organizations, including Momo Movement – the city’s long-running mixed ability dance company, and Artistic Expressions, which provides creative art programs for adults with a physical disability and/or brain injury.
As Canada’s first multidisciplinary disability arts organization, the NaAC will develop programs that support artists living with physical and developmental disabilities across visual arts, literary arts, music, dance, and other performing arts programming – through not only in-person programs at a new facility that is currently in negotiation with the City of Calgary (as a result of the City’s decision to demolish our current site in Fairview), but also through immersive digital content with communities across Canada.