This seminar will open discussions on making art with, by and for people who have complex needs, embracing rights, personalisation and the rich narrative territory of difference.

The event is for neurotypical and neurodiverse artists and makers, curators, cultural education/engagement professionals, care agencies, cultural, health and social care policy makers and anyone interested in new ways of thinking about diversity and the different ways in which we perceive and inhabit the world.

A survey of projects including innovative, collaborative investigations of built space and their impact on people who are highly sensitive to sensory and environmental stimuli will provide the basis for discussions that explore:

+ The ‘unknowability’ of another person’s experience of the world, especially if they are unable to communicate using language;

+ Collaborative, artworks informed by different states of being in and seeing the world;

+ Opportunities for audience response and Q&As on creative collaboration and inclusive curatorial programming;

 + Working with the support systems surrounding those with complex needs in order to achieve relevant and transformational connection between care and art.

Download the Full Program here PDF version.

This project is supported by ACE, Arts Council England. 

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Project Art Works

Project Art Works is an artist led organisation based in Hastings, UK. They deliver workshops, build installations, make films, exhibit work, support studio practice, provide advocacy and raise awareness with, about and for people who have complex needs (intellectual disability and/or autism and/or behaviours described as challenging).

They have recently received Arts Council England funding for Explorers, a three-year programme of art and conversation in partnership with cultural organisations across the UK and in Australia. Its overarching artistic vision is a new sound and film work in partnership with the Forestry Commission, Tate Gallery, artists Kate Adams, Tim Corrigan, Ben Rivers and Project Art Works’ artists and makers, that tracks an investigation of a forest, the outdoors and wilderness in collaboration with a group of people who are highly sensitive to the sensory stimuli of the world around them.

Tim Corrigan

Tim Corrigan is an artist filmmaker. He has extensive experience of video production both as a cameraman and editor. He has worked with children and adults with severe neurological impairments through a range a projects as a lead and freelance artist for Project Art Works since 1998.

Kate Adams

Kate Adams is a visual artist, co-founder and director of Project Art Works. She has initiated many responsive, collaborative projects with artists, galleries, psychologists, children and adults who have severe neurological impairment and their families. Kate’s experience as a parent activist and the mother of a man with complex needs is central to the organisation’s responsive and informed approach. It requires a high degree of knowledge and sensitivity to the ethical issues arising from the inclusion of people who cannot knowingly consent to their involvement in art and culture.

Patricia Finnegan

Patricia has been working as a freelance artist and educator for over ten years. Her practice focuses on elements of painting and printmaking and in 2010 she completed an MA in Art and Design in Education. She combines practice-based research with her work as an artist facilitator on a wide range of projects with neurodiverse artists and makers. Patricia is highly committed to exploring new routes to inclusion in the arts and as she believes this is essential in improving the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of everyone.