Pat Rix - Founder and Artistic Director
Inclusive Arts Pioneer
South Australian playwright, composer and social entrepreneur Pat Rix is widely respected as a national leader in social inclusion and internationally recognised for bringing community and professional artists with and without a disability together for high quality performance.
Pat has written and composed for many theatre companies and festivals since 1986 including Vancouver's 2001 and 2004 KickstART Festivals. Significant music-theatre works include the award winning My Life, My Love produced by SA State Theatre Company for the 2002 Adelaide Festival, Singing of Angels for the 2003 Australian Youth Arts Festival and Between the Worlds for the 2005 Awakenings Festival.
Most recently she composed the music for Northern Lights Southern Cross an international collaboration which won the Advertiser Critics OscArt for best new music-theatre of 2007. Pat received the inaugural Arts SA Mid Career Fellowship in 2001 and a Governors Leadership Foundation Scholarship in 2006.
In 2007 she received the Australian of the Year - South Australian Local Hero Award and the High Commendation from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for her work in challenging stereotypes and public perceptions about disability.
Pat was a national finalist for the 2008 Australian Inclusion Award and in 2009 was included in the South Australian Women's Honour Roll.