learning disability arts

back	Learning Disability Arts

	‘It’s about freedom, it’s about love, it’s about respect.’ Winston Green
	‘Our stories, our dreams, from the inside. No more secrets.’ Geoff Goodall

Learning Disability Arts is art made by people with learning disabilities. The creation of this art gives people with learning disabilities control over their expressions and their lives.

At Heart ‘n Soul we believe that our art has been about finding our voice, our culture has been in getting that voice heard.

We believe that by exploring our creativity and developing our skills we have been a part of realizing a new and exciting culture.
The history to achieving this has been about access. Access to the spaces, opportunities, skills, professionalism and audiences has allowed us to realise our talent.

A brief history of Learning Disability Arts and Culture
Not so long ago people with learning disabilities were hidden from the world, their voices unheard.

In the 1970s organizations like SHAPE, initiated programmes of work where professional artists went into large institutions to offer people with learning disabilities the chance to find their voices by exploring their expressions and views creatively.

By the 1980s ‘care in the community’ meant that people were no longer hidden. The vital self-advocacy work of organizations like People First, meant that the needs, demands and expectations of people with learning disabilities were acted upon. Participatory arts projects were launched in arts and community centres across the country giving people with learning disabilities further access to developing their art, with professional practitioners.

The launch of the National Disability Arts Forum in 1986, gave Learning Disability Arts a place within a growing and exciting cultural movement. The emerging art was dependent upon a true collaboration between the non-disabled and learning disabled artists. Yes, it was about teaching skills and techniques but it was centered on the key understanding that the work was mutually creative and inclusive.

Innovative companies like Echo City, renowned for making music accessible to everyone, inspired artists to develop innovative and creative projects with people with learning disabilities. The successful projects, in all forms of art, started to be driven by the creative vision of their members, reflecting the way people with learning disabilities saw the world.

In the 1990s Learning Disability Arts had become a recognised force within society. The formation of EUCREA allowed for a Europe wide forum enabling artists to share, develop and promote their work in a variety of mediums. Arts projects as diverse as the music theatre of Heart ‘n Soul, the political theatre of The Lawnmowers, video projects from companies such as Connections and arts collectives like Co Operations in Luxembourg, were beginning to enjoy success and to change the world!

Left: SAM musician with arts worker performing for the delegates

Now, people with learning disabilities are no longer hidden. Their voices are loud and proud. They are running their own projects, events and social activities. Their identity and their expressions are being recognised in the mainstream arts world where audiences experience a vision that celebrates life in a way that challenges preconceptions. Learning disabled actors are even working on television programmes like ‘A Touch of Frost’ and of course, 'Road Trip'.