Jo Verrent
Creative Minds asked me if learning disabled artists can get involved in Unlimited? Of course the answer is yes!
Unlimited is open to all disabled artists – including those with learning disabilities.
We have a great piece in our current programme called Dancer by an artist from Scotland called Ian Johnston and Unlimited in 2012 supported both Jez Colborne who created a musical piece called Irresistible with Mind the Gap and Dean Rodney who created the Dean Rodney Experience with Heart ‘n’ Soul.
One thing to remember is that Unlimited is for established artists. This means you have to have a track record of making great work, you can’t apply for the first thing you have ever done. Most of the artists we work with have been making work for at least three years before they apply, sometimes much, much longer.
We have a new chance for established artists to get money coming up soon. You can find out more in November 2014 – if you want to get our e-bulletins giving you information about Unlimited, email me and I’ll put you on our list: joverrent@weareunlimited.org.uk
And thanks to getting some extra money from the Spirit of 2012 Trust we also have some funds for young emerging artists, arts goers and arts activists. We are working with a number of groups and individuals on this at the moment so watch out for news soon.
At Unlimited we are running a competition called ‘your slogan here’ – to get ideas for T-shirt designs – we want disabled people under 26 to tell us what they want to say. This could be about how people feel about the cuts that are happening, or the way that they get ‘labelled’ or anything that people want to campaign about. People can enter by sending us finished artwork or simply with an idea that a professional designer can finalise. That way we can make sure the final T-shirts are all high quality. So if you are disabled, under 26 and have a spare ten minutes and the back of an envelope, get scribbling. And if you know any young disabled people – let them know too. Why not run a quick ideas workshop for us? Lets see what this generation have got to say! To enter, email Jack@shapearts.org.uk. But be quick – competition closes on 3rd August.
Hi – really interesting questions, thanks for commenting.
Yes we do accept applications from artists working with organisations. Jez for example, applied with and through Mind the Gap, Dean with and through Heart ‘n’ Soul. Sometimes its an artist on their own – like Gary – and even then he applied with other artists too so thats totally fine.
And the same with benefits. We are really flexible in how grants are paid over – sometimes to artists themselves, sometimes to other organisations – our aim is to make it work for the artist. Thats the bottom line.
Established does mean someone who has been making art for a while – but that can be as part of a group.
Hope that helps!
We also have access support for people who find the form complicated, we let people apply with videos and images, and we offer face to face meetings (can be by skype or phone or email if people want too) to talk through ideas. These will be on offer from November to Jan – so just let us know if you want to be on the list for these.
We really take access seriously – for all disabled artists, including learning disabled artist.
Do get in touch if you have any questions: joverrent@weareunlimited.org.uk
No it’s not from Tracy, but from my learning disabled son, who didn’t go out the house 5 years ago. Now he’s in a band, made an album, performs every 2 weeks and has done a UK tour.
We are accepting offers in excess of £1,000,000 for the bed, it does include crisp wrappers!
I agree that giving any artist this kind of label, can often work against the artist. Other than the 3 year marker, how else would you define ‘established’? There are so many additional elements that then come into play that can all be debated and cause confusion, (‘endorsed’, ‘popular’, ‘main stream’, ‘outsider’, ‘supported’ etc etc) Could it also be, that saying an artist needs to be ‘established’ works against younger artists?
By defining ‘established’ learning disabled artists as those who have been making art for at least three years might prove difficult, particularly if someone works on their own at home. They might find it hard to provide evidence or have a clear record of their work. Also I feel that the emphasis should be much more around whether someone’s work is good, or has great potential… and that’s much trickier.
I can’t help but wonder how Unlimited define an “established” learning disabled artist. It would be great to think about this generally. Especially as the majority of experienced learning disabled artists that I know of through Action Space, Corali and Carousel need a fair amount of support in their day to day lives. Their experience is also often quite hidden. They might work and train with an organisation so would Unlimited accept that? The Unlimited application process looks really inaccessible to me. And where does the Unlimited money go to once it’s awarded to an artist? Most of the artists with learning disabilities that I know are on benefits. A large amount of money suddenly entering their bank account from a funder would jeopardise their support packages. Surely there should be provision for these “established” learning disabled artists to apply for funding in collaboration with an organisation that supports them? What do other people think?