Project Ability:
Helping young artists with disabilities during lockdown
Project Ability is a Glasgow based organisation which delivers opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in art and creativity and to fulfil their artistic potential.
The organisation’s ‘Create’ programme works specifically with children and young people with disabilities in a wide range of creative activities including visual arts, film and new media.
In normal circumstances, the programme is delivered from Project Ability’s fully accessible and specially equipped workshop, at Trongate 103 in Glasgow, and through and outreach programme using venues across the country.
However, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdown restrictions, the ‘Create’ programme, by necessity, moved online in order to continue to bring creative participation into the lives of disabled young people, at a time when it was needed more than ever.
Re-designing ‘Create’ to be delivered remotely, working with tutors, parents, and the young people themselves was a significant challenge.
Project Ability designed the sessions to fit around a variety of pre-selected materials which were sent out to each of the participants ahead of the workshops, including media to enable the young artists to work with, replicating, as much as possible, the choice they would have in the studio.
‘Create’ was then delivered in 8-week sessions, each leading into the next, enabling participants to build on the creative skills they had acquired.
An illustrated brief was also sent out to the parents ahead of each session, giving everyone a clear idea of the planned activity and the session would be run as a group, led by the tutor, working with both the parents and the children themselves as a group on Zoom.
What emerged was a different dynamic to that normally in place in the studio, in that the level of engagement from the parents was much higher with them taking a pivotal role, working with the young person and the tutor, in the creative tasks and production of the artistic work.
The sense of community amongst these young artists, could be felt every week and many parents expressed the importance of the positive social impact that these weekly Zoom sessions made to their child.
Despite the obvious desire from everyone, to return to our studios, all of the participants and their families embraced these Zoom sessions and saw value in this online way of working and this incredibly challenging time.
But nothing speaks louder than the words of the participants themselves…
‘It’s been fantastic, it’s been a god send that we are able to get Guy back into art and interact with the rest of you guys. The guidance and the materials and all of that really just gives you a focus and really kick starts your day.
Guy loves art but being with us at home and it being the weekend, we might have just wound down, but this has given us a purpose to get out the art box and get out materials and get Guy involved. From the social aspect as well, seeing all of you guys as well and interactive chats as well, I just think it’s fantastic.
Can I just add, as well, that some of the activities we’ve continued through the week and added to it, some of his carer’s have got involved as well so it’s been good to continue it through and build on it.’
Denise and Scott (Parents to Guy)
Image courtesy of Project Ability
“I prefer coming into the studio, I do enjoy coming on zoom, sometimes I want to sometimes I don’t want. I sometimes keep working after the session a little bit. All you need to make a piece of art is creativity, you don’t need anything else other than that!”
Ellis
“We’ve obviously very much appreciated the fact that the classes can continue given the situation and having all the materials delivered to us was obviously a big help. We’ve ended up with a bit more materials than we’ve actually used and so there’s plenty to keep us going. We’ve also got the briefs that you’ve sent as well, so you can go back and repeat things as and when you want to.
It’s good to actually be involved as when you’re in the class obviously it’s more of a drop off and go for a wonder round the shops sometimes kind of situation, but being actually involved in what the kids are doing, similar to the home schooling, it makes you realise how much is actually going on behind the scenes at the class.
You know when you just turn up and drop off the kids and go, there’s obviously a lot of work going on by yourselves, behind the scenes. Now being more involved in it, I actually realise just how much there is going on. That’s been a bit of an eye opener.”
Eddy, parent of Cora
Image courtesy of Project Ability