Dance, digital portraiture and sculpture: taking ownership of Disability through creativity
National Lottery Project Grants is our open access programme which is supporting thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations to make work and have the time to think, plan and test new ideas during Covid-19.
Here are three projects led by Disabled artists and creatives which we’re pleased to be supporting in 2021 – from dance and sculpture, to digital portraiture and postcards:
Lincolnshire artist Jason Wilsher-Mills has been awarded £89,995 for Argonauts on Tour, to work with disabled communities in Corby, Hull, Scunthorpe and Manchester, delivering more than 60 digital art workshops, collecting stories and new work for exhibitions at 20-21 in North Lincolnshire and People’s History Museum in Manchester. He aims to help make disability more visible, creating large interactive sculptures and Augmented Reality (AR) portals for viewers to travel between the two venues, linked to city centre AR trails.
Shropshire artist Tanya Raabe-Webber has been awarded £55,541 for her project to work with more than 80 Disabled artists over a period of 18 months, supporting them to develop and explore their practice through online studio group sessions, one-to-one workshops, and via post with the PostcardArtExpress and collaborative sketchbook exchange project. As well as raising awareness of Disabled creatives, Tanya plans to develop and adapt her own skills as artist, collaborator and facilitator during the pandemic and beyond.
Midlands-based Dan Daw Creative Projects (DDCP) has been awarded £58,898 to tour The Dan Daw Show, made in collaboration with theatre director Mark Maughan and a larger creative team. A continuation of their research supported by Jerwood Choreographic Research Project II in 2017, the piece explores how disabled performers are a source of “inspiration” to audiences, questioning why this is and how this impacts the performer. Considering ideas of power and shame as they relate to Dan Daw’s disability, the show is about Dan coming into his power by finally taking ownership of his disability.
Peter Knott, Area Director for Arts Council England, said: “Creativity benefits us in many ways; it has a positive impact on our wellbeing, it brings us together and gives us space to explore and understand of the world around us.
“Jason’s work really pushes boundaries, using digital and interactive elements to connect people; Tanya’s practice allows artists and audiences to see the creative process live in action, to learn, develop and experiment; and Dan Daw’s piece promises to raise important questions about the nature of how Disabled artists are perceived.
“We want to develop a thriving cultural ecology that gives us all the chance to enjoy and create great art, especially in these challenging times. These projects are fantastic examples of how National Lottery funding can open doors for artists to go on to push boundaries, engage audiences and to achieve great success.”
Find out more about applying here
