Corey sustained a severe brain injury, which he has been able to overcome to become an accomplished artist and productive member of society.

Now he is one of four regional NSW artists with disability that will star in short films as part of Createability 2016 - a project for professional filmmakers to profile artists with disability living and creating in regional NSW.

Createability 2016 is a Northern Rivers Screenworks initiative being delivered across regional NSW in partnership with ABC Open and the NSW Government.

Corey Stewart is a 32-year-old Indigenous painter, sculptor and illustrator. He lives in Narooma, where his art draws inspiration from the coastal landscape and his family regularly feature in his works.

Batemans Bay filmmaker Isabel Darling, who has her own company called Torchlight Media, said she contacted Eurobodalla Council to find a suitable candidate for the project and Corey seemed like a natural.

She said she found his attitude uplifting and she really enjoyed his company and found his artwork fascinating. 

“I’m really happy to have been selected for Createability for South East NSW. And particularly glad that Corey and I can represent Eurobodalla,” Ms Darling said. “Filming will commence in July down in Narooma, with some locations set against the blue waterways that Narooma is famous for... A great way to show off this area of the country and some of the hidden talent we have here. Corey is a wonderful, creative artist and I'm looking forward to collaborating with him on this project.”

Corey’s father, Wally Stewart, said the family was excited about the project and that Corey lived a very productive life, not only with his artwork but also working for the Yumaro Industries in Moruya and doing catering work at the Dr Mackay Community Centre. 

“He doesn’t let his disability get him down and he is willing to give anything a go,” Wally said. “He lives a very active life and anything he says he will do, he has done.”

Life was very hard from the beginning and young Corey had to be fed with a teaspoon by his dad following the accident when no-one was sure he was going to make it.

Friends and family rallied around him and local metal fabricator Steve Urquhart made a special walker to get him mobile as a child. These days, dad said his mobility scooter was very important to him and he enjoyed getting around town and going for a coffee at Montague Coffee on the Flat. 

Screenworks has also announced another five Northern NSW artists with disability to be profiled for Createatiblity 2016.

Northern Rivers Screenworks general manager, Ken Crouch said that he was impressed with the breadth and variety of artists involved: “This year's Createability initiative has unearthed a diverse collection of talented artists across the state. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how their creativity will be expressed on screen by the filmmakers”

Each artist is now working closely with their Createability 2016 filmmaking team as they head into pre production, in some cases filming has already commenced. All the films will be delivered to Screenworks by the end of August 2016.

Detailed information about the artists including photos are available from Screenworks’ Createability 2016 website – http://www.screenworks.com.au/createability

Across regional NSW, the three other artists to be profiled are as follows:

·       Far West Region: Feona Bates (member of the Kurnu Barkindji people)

Feona is an Indigenous Artist and mural painter, living in Broken Hill. Her work has been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, published in printed publications. She has created a series of Murals in her home community in Broken Hill’s Credon Street and is now planning a new mural to help inspire her local community.  

·       Hunter region: Pearl Red Moon

Pearl is an established textiles, digital and mixed media artist with her own gallery in Murrurundi, in the Upper Hunter region of NSW.  She works with textiles, fibres, beads and stitch to make wearable art, two dimensional art, adornments, handbags, and crazy, vibrant dolls.

·       Orana Region: Justine Khuner

Justine is a singer, songwriter and musician living in Dubbo. She formed a love of singing when she was a young girl and her earliest musical inspiration is Cher, which led her to perform Strong Enough in a school production when she was only 12.

Createability 2016 is supported by the NSW Government through the NSW Department of Family and Community Services and Screen NSW and is being delivered in partnership with ABC Open.

ABC Open invites regional Australians to create video, photo and written stories and share them with the ABC. ABC Open supports real stories made by real people from all around Australia. All across Australia, people are creating great videos, photos and written stories to share on the ABC.

Createability is providing local funded opportunities for professional filmmakers to profile artists with disability living and creating in Regional NSW. By producing these short films, Screenworks wants to provide artists with disability the opportunity to challenge community attitudes and misconceptions that form barriers to social inclusion, while also providing the funds and opportunities for Regional NSW professional screen workers to produce short films.