1/ INTRODUCTION: COLLABORATING WITH A LEARNING DISABLED ARTIST
As an artist who creates permanent and temporary public art installations, collaboration has always been at the centre of my practice. My artwork focuses on the themes of engagement and interaction, from development through to completed form. Working from home rather than in a studio, usually devising, designing and managing rather than constructing, I am always keen to discover new collaborative opportunities, gaining insight through the exchange of ideas. Working alongside a range of art and design professionals, I have learnt a lot about the dynamics of collaborative engagement, from the importance of establishing a meaningful dialogue and building trust, to working towards a shared vision with mutually beneficial outcomes.
From 1992, when I first collaborated with a musician, creating sound making sculptures for a series of workshops in day centres in Nottingham, learning disability arts has remained an important part of my practice. Since that time I have worked with many learning disabled groups, including ten years as an artist tutor for the disability arts organisation Actions Space and more recently as lead artist for the deafblind charity Sense, creating permanent public artworks as well as temporary interactive exhibitions. Having worked with a number of exceptionally gifted artists, I remain committed to raising the profile of learning disability arts through the production of high quality work. In 2004 I received Grants for the Arts funding to research ‘Collaborative Public Art with Learning Disabled Artists’, believing that public art was an ideal means of giving value and recognition to the work of these artists. While this research showed that there was much support for engaging learning disabled artists in the public art process there was little understanding of how to build and maintain truly collaborative partnerships.
Today there are certainly some organisations that have made headway in supporting more collaborative methods of engagement, including the ‘Partners for Art’ project based at Pallant House Gallery and the ‘Access to Arts’ (a2a) course, enabling artists to work alongside students from the University of Brighton. However, from experience, for the non-disabled artist to avoid taking the lead on some level, whether it be in terms of the longer term objectives or simply in controlling the collaborative environment, remains a challenging proposition. There are many issues that need to be considered when attempting to build a truly equal collaborative partnership, from taking the first steps in initiating the collaboration through to formulating it’s aims and outcomes.
Last year I was fortunate enough to be awarded a ‘New Collaborations’ bursary by a-n, the Artists’ Information Company, with a view to researching the process of establishing this more balanced, collaborative method of approach. This gave me the opportunity to work for the first time with Arts Manager Sheryll Catto, who has twenty-five years experience of working in the creative sector, most recently as part-time co-director of ‘Action Space’. Committed to developing opportunities for learning disabled artists, she aims to establish recognised levels of achievement that signify professional status. She believes that helping to initiate and support collaborative partnerships between non-disabled and learning disabled artists will be a step towards achieving this professional recognition.
Sheryll’s work with Action Space gives her access to an established group of learning disabled artists whose practice is considered to have reached a professional level. Working within a series of five studio projects across London, supported by an experienced team of artist tutors and volunteers, these artists create a wide variety of work, exhibited in galleries across the South East.
