Disability Strategy Project Team
A report about Programming
This is for the group to talk about at the
meeting.
Steve Mannix, Sarah Pickthall, Tabith Allum
have written this report
Words you will see in this report and what they mean:
 Strategy - Plan
 Programme - what’s on

Programming - deciding what’s going to be on
 Performing Arts - arts that you do in front of people like
acting, singing and dancing
 Disability Arts - art done by disabled people about disabled
people
 On tour - travelling round the country to show your art
 Visual Arts - art that you can see, touch or have described
to you
 Company - a group of people who do art together
 Touring company - a group of people who travel round
doing art together
 Venue - a place where art is shown, like a theatre or a
gallery
 Gallery - a place where art is shown
 Arts administrators - people who do the office work
 Literature - writing like books and poetry
1. What this report is about
This report is about
 The sort of disability arts that get shown
now
 what should be done in the future
2. What’s been happening up to now
Performing arts
In 2000, some work was done to find out if it
would be a good idea to take art about
disability on tour. This showed that not much
art like this was being shown.
Some places said they were worried about putting this art on
because:
 It might not be very good.
 Audiences might not like it
 Information about the performances wasn’t always very good
 Audiences didn’t understand the art and needed the chance to
learn about it.
Some things have now changed to help put these problems
right.
 Disability arts now gets more money.
 Lots more places now show disability art.
But there’s still not enough help for touring companies to grow
really strong.
Visual Arts
Disabled artists don’t get the same chances as non disabled
artists in visual arts.
This means that it is harder for them to be successful.
Visual arts by disabled people doesn’t get seen by many people.
Literature
There are still lots of difficulties for disabled artists who want to
do live literature.
Live literature isn’t always very good. This can put people off.
Really good artists are going to be given some help.
Touring ir difficult with live literature. Training for people who
work on their own is very important to help live literature get
stronger.
3. This is the most important part of the report
Visual Arts
Disabled people don’t get the same training as non
disabled people.
This can make them think they aren’t as good at art as non
disabled people.
It is hard for them to get their work seen and enjoyed.
Literature
There is a new kind of art called live literature. Sometimes this
isn’t always very good to watch. There needs to be some work
done to help writers who are good to get better.
Performing arts
About touring companies
Touring companies have never been given
enough money. So their work isn’t always as
good as it should be.
There isn’t enough training for staff
There’s not enough training for disabled
performers. They end up doing the same sort of
performance all the time.
A lot of the work is made up by the
companies. Audiences might not like it. This is
a big worry for the people who decide what will
be shown
Companies need places where they know their art can be
shown.
Companies need to be sure what their work is about so venues
will know if their audiences will like it.
They need to be sure that their work is good enough to be out in
front of an audience.
About performing
Art about disability should be important to all
places where art is shown.
They do want to have art about disability on
show. But they need to know the art is good.
They need to know that audiences will want to
watch it.
They don’t know much about the companies that do art about
disability. They need more information.
Art about disability shouldn’t just be done as part of a festival. It
should be on show all year round.
There needs to be more producers who can talk to places about
showing this sort of art.
We need to find out what audiences will go and see. This will
help to get more people interested in disability arts.
It’s good to get venues to share information and ideas. This
might be a really good way of helping live literature to get
stronger.
Training people for the future
Not many disabled people have got jobs as arts
administrators
More disabled people should be trained to do this
job.
Not many non disabled arts administrators want to work in
disability arts.
There needs to be more producers who can talk to places about
showing art about disability.
We need to make sure there are leaders in place for the future.
Artists who work on their own
Disabled artists need the chance to share ideas and get training
if they are to keep getting better at what they do.
Disabled people need places they can go to do their jobs that
are accessible. This means making sure that buildings and
workspaces can be used by disabled people as easily as they
can be used by non disabled people.
Disabled people need help to get funding so they can have time
to do new work and look again at work they’ve already done.
They need help to network. Who should give this help?
Should it be the Arts Council or Disability Forums?
Places where art is shown
Places where art is shown like museums, libraries and galleries
need to change the way they work with disabled artists. If they
don’t make sure that disabled art is shown they should be told
off. There should be more chances for the people who run these
places to find out more about disability arts. We need to make
sure disabled artists can use computers to make art.
Deaf-led companies and Deaf artists
It can be very difficult for Deaf artists to get their
work put on.
They need support to communicate with venues
so they have the same opportunities as other
companies and artists.
Learning disabled artists
Artists with learning disabilities need to be able to speak up for
themselves and have their own voice. There needs to be money
to help make this happen.
About the artists
These are the things we need to think about:
 Is the work good?
 Are there accessible places for people to work in?
 Disabled artists might need help to get funding or to get their
work put on show. How should we help them do this?
 Artists need to have the chance to meet up with other people
who make and show visual arts
Funding for disability companies and artists
We need to plan the way we are going to support people.
This will help disability companies and artists to get better.
We should start with the companies that are already strong.
It is difficult to know which is the best way to do this.
It might be a good idea to give money for projects.
Or maybe there should be a fund put in place.
Good work isn’t used enough. We need to
make sure it is seen more by audiences.
Some art is made to help the people who are part of it. But it’s
not ready to be seen by audiences. This art is very important but
it should get money from a different organisation.
4. For the team to talk about
 What’s the best way of giving money to help disabled artists
get better at what they do?
 How can we get more disabled people to look for jobs in
art?
 How can we help disability arts to get seen and enjoyed in
public
 How can we make sure the art is always good?
 How can we help people get better at what they do?
5. Targets
What the Arts Council should try to do
 Make groups who get money from the Arts Council have
Disability Action Plans
Give more money to the best artists
Make sure money the Arts Council gives is spent to help
disability arts
Make sure disabled people know how to get funding
What mainstream arts should try to do
 Have a disability action plan
 Make sure disability art can be seen at the same places
people go to see mainstream art
 Give disabled people jobs
 Look at ways to give support to disabled artists
 Make sure disabled people are members of boards
What disability arts organisations should do
Work together and be a strong voice for disability arts.
Work with places where art is shown.
Get better at selling disability arts so more people get to see it.
6. Recommendations - what should happen now
1. We need a plan for funding disability arts.
2. The organisations we give money to need to tell us what they
are doing about disability issues. This will mean more
opportunities for disability arts.
3. We need to be able to tell how well or badly disability arts is
doing. This will help us make plans for the future.
4. Venues need more chances to get to know about disability art.
5. Companies need funding they can use to get in good staff and
come up with some really good art.
6. Make sure that different disability arts organisations know
what they should be doing to help disabled artists.
7. Where to find out more
 Opening Doors: action plan for disability arts touring
You can get this on the internet.
www.artscouncil.org.uk/documents/publications/350.doc