{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{short description|Australian artist}}
'''Dion Beasley''' is an artist and illustrator from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia.
==Early life== Beasley is an Alywarr man who was born in Alice Springs in 1991. He spent his early years in the remote community of Owairtilla, also known as Canteen Creek, before relocating to Tennant Creek.
Beasley has muscular dystrophy and is deaf.
==Art== Beasley developed an interest in drawing at a young age which has helped him to communicate. Dion predominately draws dogs and elements of community life.
Dion is known to regularly visit his grandfather at Mulga Camp on the edge of Tennant Creek where he fed the camp dogs. They inspired his prolific drawings of them in a variety of moods and situations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Ginny |title=Disabled Indigenous artist puts his home town of Tennant Creek firmly on the map |url=https://www.abc.net.au/lateline/disabled-indigenous-artist-puts-his-home-town-of/7439306 |accessdate=1 December 2018 |agency=Lateline |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=23 May 2016}}</ref>
Dion's first exhibition was at the Darwin Entertainment Centre in 2018, entitled ''A Dog’s Life''. It then travelled through the eastern states of Australia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dion Beasley |url=https://www.nomadart.com.au/?p=2879 |website=Nomad Art |publisher=Nomad Art |accessdate=1 December 2018}}</ref> With the assistance of carer Joie Boulter, he also creates etchings, photography and modeling, and has his own clothing label “Cheeky Dog” which launched in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dion Beasley |url=https://www.allenandunwin.com/authors/b/dion-beasley |website=Allen and Unwin |publisher=Allen and Unwin |accessdate=1 December 2018}}</ref>
He has illustrated three books ''Too Many Cheeky Dogs'' and ''Go Home Cheeky Animals!''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gregory |first1=Katherine |title=Go Home Cheeky Animals: Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell launch second book in Darwin |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-24/dion-beasley-johanna-bell-second-book-go-home-cheeky-animals/7439644 |accessdate=1 December 2018 |agency=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=24 May 2016}}</ref> and ''Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/childrens/childrens-non-fiction/Cheeky-Dogs-To-Lake-Nash-and-Back-Dion-Beasley-and-Johanna-Bell-9781760528119|title=Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back|website=Allen and Unwin|access-date=26 July 2019}}</ref>
==Accolades==
''Go Home Cheeky Animals!'' won The Book of the Year in the Early Childhood category in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Go Home Cheeky Animals! |url=https://cbca.org.au/book/go-home-cheeky-animals |website=Children's Book Council of Australia |accessdate=1 December 2018}}</ref>
Australia Council for the Arts inaugural National Arts and Disability Award in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.katherinetimes.com.au/story/6526071/dion-beasley-scoops-national-arts-and-disability-award/|title=Dion Beasley scoops National Arts and Disability Award|last=Fitzgerald|first=Roxanne|date=2019-12-04|website=Katherine Times|language=en|access-date=2019-12-08}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} * [https://www.facebook.com/cheekydogs/]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Dion}} Category:1991 births Category:Living people Category:Artists from the Northern Territory Category:Indigenous Australian artists Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:People from the Northern Territory