Digital Storytelling from the People of Sunnyfield
Interview by Kathy Hunter

Gaye Fleming, Arts Co-ordinator of Sunnyfield Independence, stands in the doorway wearing lime green jeans, funky black and white glasses and a big smile. She beckons: “Come in and meet everyone!”

Sunnyfield is a day options centre in Frenchs Forest for adults with intellectual disabilities. Two months ago they moved here from an inadequate centre at Bantry Bay Road in Cromer, and then Gaye arrived. Things are a bit different now for the Sunnyfield people – the new building is light, bright, airy and huge, and they’re involved in areas of the arts that they, and their carers, would never have thought possible.

There are introductions, with big grins all round, and lots of slightly confronting but enthusiastic handshakes. There’s a strange repetitive human noise coming from somewhere in the centre. Gaye says, “I quite like that one actually, it’s almost like a sort of Indian chant, I keep thinking it’d be good in one of my sound workshops, I must record it one day. Shall we pop upstairs?”

There’s lots of art on the way up. Some of it wouldn’t look out of place in a contemporary gallery – Warhol-esque portrait montages; a massive red, orange and yellow canvas criss-crossed with wheelchair tracks and footprints; a bright group of works which layer repetitive doodles on clear plastic sheets to 3D effect. Before Gaye arrived, the only creative outlet available was newsprint and crayons. “My stuff’s a bit off-centre,’ she says, “which of course is a wonderful way for them to express themselves because, boy, they can be really out there, it’s fantastic!”

Gaye has been involved with introducing people with a disability to the arts for ten years in the UK. She moved to Australia two years ago, and set up Many Hands Creative Workshops soon after. Her mission is to ‘enable people with and without disabilities to explore, develop, create and above all, enjoy the arts.’ And Gaye means all the arts – “I do drama, music, visual art, film, puppetry, the works,” she says.
 
Her current venture at Sunnyfield is Digital Storytelling, part of this year’s Manly Arts Festival. The storytelling team is waiting upstairs – I meet tall, dark Stan who has a very lovely smile; shy Jason who wants to be an actor; Simone, who wants to know, up close, fast and loud, “Do you wear makeup? Like lollies? Yeah? What kind?” and Pat, whose small and quiet story is simply about her beloved cat, Otto.

Each person who is involved in a digital story works one-to-one with a staff member to decide what story they’re going to tell, write a loose script, then get to work with cameras (bought with a $750 donation from Manly Council) to take lots of photos about their subject. The digital pictures are then turned into a kind of PowerPoint presentation, with voiceover and/or captions. The results will be shown on big screens in the Manly Library from the 22nd-28th September.

We all sit down and watch Stan’s film, which is about his greatest love – Mercedes cars. Gaye has taken him to a Mercedes dealership and arranged for him to sit in various brand-new cars whilst they take lots of photos. Watching his own story on the big screen, Stan smiles and smiles, so much that his eyes crinkle to nothing. He smacks his thighs. His voiceover, breathless and ecstatic, says “I like cars. I like power-steering. I like mirrors. I like the steering wheel. I like the lights. I like the power steering…”

 “Communication is a major part of the power of Digital Storytelling,” says Gaye. “Having their stories heard by their friends and families, and seeing themselves on screen makes them so proud and really boosts their confidence.” One of the interns, Karen, is amazed at the way the Sunnyfield people have responded to Gaye’s arts programme. “They’re often quite introverted and isolated,” she says, “but once they find a medium that works for them, they just come alive! It’s really good to see.”

Gaye is fizzing with more ideas, but of course there’s never enough money, and too much of her time is spent applying for grants. Still, in the two months she’s been here, she’s accomplished a lot. The Sunnyfielders will soon be performing in a circus spectacular at the Glen Street Theatre, while coming up are drama and music workshops at places like NIDA, the Gallery of NSW, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Bella programme and the Powerhouse Museum’s Soundhouse Vector Lab.

You get the feeling that for Gaye and the people of Sunnyfield, this is just the beginning. 

DIGITAL STORYTELLING from the People of Sunnyfield
22 SEPT - 28 SEPT
Library Opening Hours @ Manly Library, Market Place
Cost: free
Enquiries: Gaye, 0418 490 291
manyhandsworkshops@gmail.com