Part of our #BreathingSpace programme
Something that we have felt it important to address is how the pandemic has paradoxically opened up the arts in terms of accessibility, often in ways that had previously seemed impossible. With this in mind, for Is There Anybody Out There, we invited applications from artists with both visible and invisible disabilities and prioritised these practices. We wanted to support disabled practitioners in Lancashire, but also to learn about what we can do to ensure our work is as accessible as it needs to be. This strand of the wider Breathing Space programme was also designed to function as artistic development for early-career practitioners, which we consider expansively to be anybody within the first ten years of the creative practice they want to develop with us.
In a time of change and uncertainty, when our usual forms of togetherness and exchange aren’t available, how can we communicate with each other meaningfully?
With this enquiry in mind, we invited proposals to support small-scale artistic development, in any art form. We wanted to facilitate some time and space to reflect on creative practice, audiences and connection under these new conditions, with bespoke support provided by our Associate Creative Producer, Lauren Velvick.
Of the four artists and one duo selected, each had a very different proposal for who they wanted to connect with and why.
Find out more about what the Is There Anybody Out There? artists did by clicking on their names below:
Helena Ascough, Jen Blackwell and David Darcy, Julie Pinington Wright, Kasia Tatys and Ellie Barrett
If you have any questions or comments please contact the Associate Creative Producer on lauren@lancasterarts.org
Image Credit: Julie Pinington Wright/Big Kid Circus (2020)
