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Shape Arts

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Shape Arts or Shape is a London-based arts charity, funded by Arts Council England, that is committed to providing opportunities for disabled individuals wanting to work in the arts and cultural sector. It trains participants and runs arts and development programmes across all of the creative arts: visual arts, music, dance, writing and acting. Shape Arts partners with major cultural institutions to create positive change for disabled people by improving access, exposure and opportunities in contemporary art.

Contents

History

Shape was founded by Gina Levete MBE in 1976 with project funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation. The current CEO is Tony Heaton OBE.

Shape was informed by the political activism of the 60s. Disability arts grew out of the disability rights movement, and the wider struggle by disabled people for equality and the right to participate in all aspects of society.

Activities

Their mission is to provide skills, opportunities and support for disabled artists, individuals and cultural organisations; and help build a more inclusive cultural sector. It does this through four delivery aims:

  • More disabled people employed in the creative industries
  • More disabled people as audiences
  • Disabled artists creating high quality creative work
  • Disabled people participating in the arts

    • Shape Arts arranges exhibitions, awards bursaries to promising disabled artists and provides training in media and marketing skills. From December 2012 - Spring 2013, a pop-up exhibition entitled 'Shape in the City' was presented in the centre of the City of London. Shape recently had a temporary exhibition space for two years - a gallery at Westfield Stratford City.

    Notable artists

  • Yinka Shonibare is a disabled artist who worked as an arts development officer at Shape in the 90s. Shonibare acknowledges the role that Shape Arts played in his early career: "I worked for Shape three days a week, running workshops on singing, dancing or visual arts for disabled and older people in day centres and hospitals. The job meant I could afford to rent a studio and it gave me organisational and fundraising skills." In 2013, Shonibare was announced as patron of the annual Shape 'Open' exhibition where disabled and non-disabled artists are invited to submit work in response to a disability focused theme.
  • Guy Evans, a founding member of Echo City, is a progressive rock drummer with Subterraneans who worked at Shape Arts in an administrative role and as a workshop leader.
  • Kelly Knox, one of Britain's leading disabled fashion models, worked at Shape Arts for a number of years as a programme co-ordinator.

    • Financial Support

    Renowned British contemporary artists have donated artworks to Shape to raise money for the charity through an auction at Bonhams. Funds raised from the sale were matched by the Arts Council’s Catalyst Arts Fund and went towards supporting new arts activities and opportunities for disabled people. Works by Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mat Collishaw, Angela de la Cruz, Tacita Dean, Sir Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn and David Shrigley were auctioned at Bonhams London on 4 March 2014.

    In 2016, an online auction at Paddle8 included donations of twenty-five artworks from a range of internationally acclaimed artists including Jeremy Deller, Julie Umerle, Candida Hofer, Ragnar Kjartansson, Hito Steyerl, Grayson Perry and Hans Op de Beeck in support of Shape Arts' 40th anniversary and the continued importance of the organisation's work.

    Adam Reynolds' Memorial Bursary

    The Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary was inaugurated in 2008 in memory of the sculptor Adam Reynolds (1959-2005). It is one of the most significant opportunities for disabled visual artists in the UK, offering an opportunity to engage in a three-month residency at a high-profile gallery. Venues that have hosted the residencies include the V & A, Camden Arts Centre, Spike Island, The BALTIC, the Bluecoat Gallery and New Art Gallery Walsall.

    References

    Shape Arts Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA