2018-2019
Shape Annual Review • 2018 - 2019
01
About Shape Arts
Shape is a disability-led arts organisation which works to improve access to culture for disabled people by providing opportunities for disabled artists, training cultural institutions to be more open to disabled people, and through running participatory creative and development programmes.
Shape’s programmes are: • Shape Open
• Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary • Shape Collection • NDACA (the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive) • Unlimited, co-delivered with Artsadmin In addition to this, we provide access auditing and training services to arts organisations. Working across the UK and internationally we deliver consultancy thalt works towards the improvement of cultural services for all disabled people. We find organisations who engage with us are better equipped and more confident in welcoming and working with diverse groups of all kinds, whether as participants, employees or artists. All of Shape’s work is informed by the Social Model of Disability. You can read and download our Annual Reviews here.
Philosophy
Our founding principle and philosophy is that all disabled people should have the opportunity to participate fully in arts and culture.
Vision
An inspiring and inclusive arts sector, accessible to all.
Mission
Promote great art and inclusive practices, knowledge and learning, ensuring disabled people have active and influential roles in arts and culture - as leaders, artists, participants, audiences, and as part of a skilled workforce.
Values:
In Out There Exhibition, 2018. Photography by Dani Bower.
• Inclusion • Ambition
• Creativity • Excellence 02
01
About Shape Arts
Shape is a disability-led arts organisation which works to improve access to culture for disabled people by providing opportunities for disabled artists, training cultural institutions to be more open to disabled people, and through running participatory creative and development programmes.
Shape’s programmes are: • Shape Open
• Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary • Shape Collection • NDACA (the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive) • Unlimited, co-delivered with Artsadmin In addition to this, we provide access auditing and training services to arts organisations. Working across the UK and internationally we deliver consultancy thalt works towards the improvement of cultural services for all disabled people. We find organisations who engage with us are better equipped and more confident in welcoming and working with diverse groups of all kinds, whether as participants, employees or artists. All of Shape’s work is informed by the Social Model of Disability. You can read and download our Annual Reviews here.
Philosophy
Our founding principle and philosophy is that all disabled people should have the opportunity to participate fully in arts and culture.
Vision
An inspiring and inclusive arts sector, accessible to all.
Mission
Promote great art and inclusive practices, knowledge and learning, ensuring disabled people have active and influential roles in arts and culture - as leaders, artists, participants, audiences, and as part of a skilled workforce.
Values:
In Out There Exhibition, 2018. Photography by Dani Bower.
• Inclusion • Ambition
• Creativity • Excellence 02
04
Chair’s Report
In a year of change and uncertainty in the wider world it is good to know that our mission and vision at Shape remains steadfast. It’s a great privilege to lead our strong, diverse and committed Board in holding the vision for Shape, but we know that the work to maintain and drive Shape onwards falls to the staff team led by CEO, David Hevey. Keeping at the forefront of UK Disability-led arts organisations and extending our reach globally is an ambitious goal but it’s one relished by David and the team as we navigate our way through continuing austerity. Our Programme, as you will see in the following pages, demonstrates a robust commitment to promoting the creative talents of disabled people in the UK, through the Shape Open which continues to build on the themes that have an impact on the lives of disabled people and present works of confidence that speak with an authentic voice on those issues. Again, we are indebted to our patron Yinka Shonibare CBE for his support of the Shape Open. Likewise the Adam Reynolds Bursary continues to strengthen our relationships with leading contemporary galleries across the UK whilst giving a unique platform to disabled artists. Programmes initiated by Shape, including the highly successful Unlimited commissions and the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive extend their reach beyond the UK to across the globe. In doing so, they act as launch pads for a wonderfully diverse group of creative talents and articulating the history of the disability arts movement respectively as world firsts - things we should be rightly proud to support. These successes are hard-won and come through us having the courage to push on – to challenge funders if they imperil our projects through financial cuts or standstill funding, to challenge our talent to be radical in their work and not fear authority’s disapproval of their rage, and to be a major disruptive player in the world of the arts. We continue to ask difficult questions of the arts, culture and creative industries in general – what are YOU doing to support disabled and diverse creatives to thrive? – And in doing so, we invite you to work with us to bring about those positive changes. Tony Heaton OBE
Chief Executive’s Report
Shape continues to be all about access and removing barriers to creative excellence; supporting barriers-facing artists and creatives to make widespread impact is what we do. And this is at the centre of another busy year in which Shape continues to hugely impact millions, as we saw at the beginning of this year with our new NPO Programme. We also saw our landmark project NDACA go live at the House of Lords and reach millions of audiences, online and walk-in. We saw our other projects - such as Unlimited - continue to create break-out hits. Our success, as ever, is built on creative talent and the artist pushing boundaries to show the way we live now, sometimes showing and naming difficult themes and other times exploring in creative form just what is happening – good and bad - for disabled, diverse and different people in the modern world. To do this, we need a robust and dynamic organisation, for which we thank our solid Board of Trustees, led by Tony Heaton OBE, and our superb staff, both in-office and freelance. And, helping us continue this impact, we must also thank our partners, too numerous to name individually here, but they know how great their contributions have been to Shape. Above all, we must thank the artists, the creatives, and the cultural practitioners who we support and who continue to support Shape – we owe our sincerest thanks to their vision, creativity and barriers-breaking which drives their brilliant work showing that we live in complex, difficult, but still hopeful times.
03
David Hevey, Chief Executive
04
Chair’s Report
In a year of change and uncertainty in the wider world it is good to know that our mission and vision at Shape remains steadfast. It’s a great privilege to lead our strong, diverse and committed Board in holding the vision for Shape, but we know that the work to maintain and drive Shape onwards falls to the staff team led by CEO, David Hevey. Keeping at the forefront of UK Disability-led arts organisations and extending our reach globally is an ambitious goal but it’s one relished by David and the team as we navigate our way through continuing austerity. Our Programme, as you will see in the following pages, demonstrates a robust commitment to promoting the creative talents of disabled people in the UK, through the Shape Open which continues to build on the themes that have an impact on the lives of disabled people and present works of confidence that speak with an authentic voice on those issues. Again, we are indebted to our patron Yinka Shonibare CBE for his support of the Shape Open. Likewise the Adam Reynolds Bursary continues to strengthen our relationships with leading contemporary galleries across the UK whilst giving a unique platform to disabled artists. Programmes initiated by Shape, including the highly successful Unlimited commissions and the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive extend their reach beyond the UK to across the globe. In doing so, they act as launch pads for a wonderfully diverse group of creative talents and articulating the history of the disability arts movement respectively as world firsts - things we should be rightly proud to support. These successes are hard-won and come through us having the courage to push on – to challenge funders if they imperil our projects through financial cuts or standstill funding, to challenge our talent to be radical in their work and not fear authority’s disapproval of their rage, and to be a major disruptive player in the world of the arts. We continue to ask difficult questions of the arts, culture and creative industries in general – what are YOU doing to support disabled and diverse creatives to thrive? – And in doing so, we invite you to work with us to bring about those positive changes. Tony Heaton OBE
Chief Executive’s Report
Shape continues to be all about access and removing barriers to creative excellence; supporting barriers-facing artists and creatives to make widespread impact is what we do. And this is at the centre of another busy year in which Shape continues to hugely impact millions, as we saw at the beginning of this year with our new NPO Programme. We also saw our landmark project NDACA go live at the House of Lords and reach millions of audiences, online and walk-in. We saw our other projects - such as Unlimited - continue to create break-out hits. Our success, as ever, is built on creative talent and the artist pushing boundaries to show the way we live now, sometimes showing and naming difficult themes and other times exploring in creative form just what is happening – good and bad - for disabled, diverse and different people in the modern world. To do this, we need a robust and dynamic organisation, for which we thank our solid Board of Trustees, led by Tony Heaton OBE, and our superb staff, both in-office and freelance. And, helping us continue this impact, we must also thank our partners, too numerous to name individually here, but they know how great their contributions have been to Shape. Above all, we must thank the artists, the creatives, and the cultural practitioners who we support and who continue to support Shape – we owe our sincerest thanks to their vision, creativity and barriers-breaking which drives their brilliant work showing that we live in complex, difficult, but still hopeful times.
03
David Hevey, Chief Executive
Introduction
2018/19 was Shape’s first of a new four year operational plan as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), funded and supported by Arts Council England. Alongside the growth and success of the Unlimited programme, and the continuation of the delivery phase of the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive (NDACA), our core NPO work found us continuing to develop the talent of disabled artists, as well as disabled people aspiring to work and lead in arts and culture, whilst at the same time building new arts audiences and ensuring that cultural venues are accessible and fully inclusive for disabled visitors.
Over the year we:
• Supported over 100 artists, at least 90% of whom were disabled. • Produced, supported, curated or co-curated more than 40 exhibitions and artistic events. • Engaged over 200,000 live audience members. • Reached over 4 million people online. • Providing training, advocacy, and access audits to over 20 UK organisations, reaching over 400 staff members. • Trained more than 130 international cultural sector workers in Disability Equality and inclusive practices. This year, we continued to raise artists’ profiles through providing excellent development platforms and opportunities. Our artists are going on to achieve widespread recognition in the mainstream press, news outlets and a variety of online channels; this wider reach has rippled out to over 180 million views, visits and online hits, and with another year of quality support for artists achieved, this looks set to continue.
The Dinner Party Revisited (2014) by Katherine Araniello. Southbank Centre, Unlimited Festival.
In Out There Exhibition, 2018. Photography by Dani Bower.
Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary Katherine Araniello
05
We were very sorry to note the passing of Katherine Araniello this year. Katherine had an association with Shape going back many years, with her more recent points of connection being through the Shape Open (one of her films was shown in the retrospective), NDACA, and through the Unlimited programme, where she was awarded commissions that saw her performance work showing at Southbank and other leading venues.
2018 saw the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary (ARMB) celebrate its tenth anniversary. Shape marked this milestone with an exhibition ‘In Out There’ at Attenborough Arts Centre (AAC), featuring newly commissioned work by 2018 ARMB recipient Terence Birch, as well as work by artists Sarah Carpenter, Nicola Lane and Catherine Cleary, who were all shortlisted for this year’s award. Showcased alongside this new work was some of Adam Reynolds’ own seldom-seen works, archival material, and interviews. The Adam Gallery, Adam’s pioneering artist-run labyrinthine gallery housed in an ex-cobbler’s shop in South London, was reimagined within the walls of the centre – re-affirming AAC’s and Shape’s commitment to supporting disabled artists. Terence Birch completed his residency at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, in the summer of 2018, and as Shape’s flagship award programme entered its 11th year, artist Sophie Hoyle was awarded the 2019 bursary prize. Sophie received a £10,000 bursary and began their accompanying residency at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in March 2019.
06
Introduction
2018/19 was Shape’s first of a new four year operational plan as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), funded and supported by Arts Council England. Alongside the growth and success of the Unlimited programme, and the continuation of the delivery phase of the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive (NDACA), our core NPO work found us continuing to develop the talent of disabled artists, as well as disabled people aspiring to work and lead in arts and culture, whilst at the same time building new arts audiences and ensuring that cultural venues are accessible and fully inclusive for disabled visitors.
Over the year we:
• Supported over 100 artists, at least 90% of whom were disabled. • Produced, supported, curated or co-curated more than 40 exhibitions and artistic events. • Engaged over 200,000 live audience members. • Reached over 4 million people online. • Providing training, advocacy, and access audits to over 20 UK organisations, reaching over 400 staff members. • Trained more than 130 international cultural sector workers in Disability Equality and inclusive practices. This year, we continued to raise artists’ profiles through providing excellent development platforms and opportunities. Our artists are going on to achieve widespread recognition in the mainstream press, news outlets and a variety of online channels; this wider reach has rippled out to over 180 million views, visits and online hits, and with another year of quality support for artists achieved, this looks set to continue.
The Dinner Party Revisited (2014) by Katherine Araniello. Southbank Centre, Unlimited Festival.
In Out There Exhibition, 2018. Photography by Dani Bower.
Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary Katherine Araniello
05
We were very sorry to note the passing of Katherine Araniello this year. Katherine had an association with Shape going back many years, with her more recent points of connection being through the Shape Open (one of her films was shown in the retrospective), NDACA, and through the Unlimited programme, where she was awarded commissions that saw her performance work showing at Southbank and other leading venues.
2018 saw the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary (ARMB) celebrate its tenth anniversary. Shape marked this milestone with an exhibition ‘In Out There’ at Attenborough Arts Centre (AAC), featuring newly commissioned work by 2018 ARMB recipient Terence Birch, as well as work by artists Sarah Carpenter, Nicola Lane and Catherine Cleary, who were all shortlisted for this year’s award. Showcased alongside this new work was some of Adam Reynolds’ own seldom-seen works, archival material, and interviews. The Adam Gallery, Adam’s pioneering artist-run labyrinthine gallery housed in an ex-cobbler’s shop in South London, was reimagined within the walls of the centre – re-affirming AAC’s and Shape’s commitment to supporting disabled artists. Terence Birch completed his residency at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, in the summer of 2018, and as Shape’s flagship award programme entered its 11th year, artist Sophie Hoyle was awarded the 2019 bursary prize. Sophie received a £10,000 bursary and began their accompanying residency at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in March 2019.
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2019 Tate Exchange. Photography by Dan Weill. Shape Open 2018 at the Nunnery Gallery. Photography by Rachel Cherry.
Shape Open (Retrospective)
November saw Shape reflect upon six years of the Shape Open with a retrospective exhibition, ‘Cumulative Effect: Disability and the Welfare State’ at Hoxton Arches, London. This exhibition re-examined a selection of key works previously exhibited during the Open, considering the history of disability policy and life for disabled people in a welfare state. 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the National Assistance Act and Shape used this opportunity to showcase selected works from a new perspective. The works of 26 artists were selected and presented in a challenging new exhibition, reflecting on disabled artists’ outlook on their place within our society and their resolve to be, and remain, visible. The response to our 7th annual call out for the Shape Open saw exciting applications received from around the world. Works were selected for the final exhibition by a panel of judges including 2018 Shape Open prizewinner Helen Jones, Nunnery Gallery Director of Arts and Events Sophie Hill, Nunnery Gallery Arts and Events Coordinator Saphia Venner, Shape Arts Chief Executive David Hevey, and Shape Arts Programme Manager Sara Dziadik.
Tate Exchange
Shape’s third Tate Exchange programme invited visitors to explore play, sound, and feeling in a lively Fluxus-inspired experience. The four day programme featured a series of workshops, installations and events examining how people interact with and produce art that discusses disability. Interactive and immersive installations by artists Abi Palmer, Seohye Lee, and Romily Alice Walden were the main feature of the programme. Zine making workshops took place with artists Mia Maxwell and Hamja Ahsan, who asked visitors to create their own lo-fi masterpieces in response to their themes and Shape’s programme. Shape also hosted a discussion with partners Disability Arts Online (DAO) and a-n, on how to maintain a sustainable practice as an emerging disabled artist in a difficult climate. This talk featured presentations from recipients of the Emergence Bursary, a new award created as part of a pilot project aiming to tackle the isolation, low confidence and marginalisation of emerging disabled artists, as well the lack of accessible opportunities in mainstream arts settings. Bursary recipients Fae Kilburn, Letty McHugh, Lauren Saunders and Leo Wight spoke to the audience about their artistic practice. Their activity is supported by Shape, DAO and a-n alongside a £1500 prize for each artist. More than 1500 visitors joined us over four days at Tate Exchange to explore their creativity, and also challenge their perceptions of disability and the barriers that disabled people face.
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08
2019 Tate Exchange. Photography by Dan Weill. Shape Open 2018 at the Nunnery Gallery. Photography by Rachel Cherry.
Shape Open (Retrospective)
November saw Shape reflect upon six years of the Shape Open with a retrospective exhibition, ‘Cumulative Effect: Disability and the Welfare State’ at Hoxton Arches, London. This exhibition re-examined a selection of key works previously exhibited during the Open, considering the history of disability policy and life for disabled people in a welfare state. 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the National Assistance Act and Shape used this opportunity to showcase selected works from a new perspective. The works of 26 artists were selected and presented in a challenging new exhibition, reflecting on disabled artists’ outlook on their place within our society and their resolve to be, and remain, visible. The response to our 7th annual call out for the Shape Open saw exciting applications received from around the world. Works were selected for the final exhibition by a panel of judges including 2018 Shape Open prizewinner Helen Jones, Nunnery Gallery Director of Arts and Events Sophie Hill, Nunnery Gallery Arts and Events Coordinator Saphia Venner, Shape Arts Chief Executive David Hevey, and Shape Arts Programme Manager Sara Dziadik.
Tate Exchange
Shape’s third Tate Exchange programme invited visitors to explore play, sound, and feeling in a lively Fluxus-inspired experience. The four day programme featured a series of workshops, installations and events examining how people interact with and produce art that discusses disability. Interactive and immersive installations by artists Abi Palmer, Seohye Lee, and Romily Alice Walden were the main feature of the programme. Zine making workshops took place with artists Mia Maxwell and Hamja Ahsan, who asked visitors to create their own lo-fi masterpieces in response to their themes and Shape’s programme. Shape also hosted a discussion with partners Disability Arts Online (DAO) and a-n, on how to maintain a sustainable practice as an emerging disabled artist in a difficult climate. This talk featured presentations from recipients of the Emergence Bursary, a new award created as part of a pilot project aiming to tackle the isolation, low confidence and marginalisation of emerging disabled artists, as well the lack of accessible opportunities in mainstream arts settings. Bursary recipients Fae Kilburn, Letty McHugh, Lauren Saunders and Leo Wight spoke to the audience about their artistic practice. Their activity is supported by Shape, DAO and a-n alongside a £1500 prize for each artist. More than 1500 visitors joined us over four days at Tate Exchange to explore their creativity, and also challenge their perceptions of disability and the barriers that disabled people face.
Jason Wilsher-Mills’ DDA Banner. The Art House, Wakefield.
Children and Young People
This year we hosted four deaf-led London schools at Tate Modern, who undertook tours of artworks in the main gallery collections, and creative workshops with artist Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq. The students were introduced by our lead artist to the idea of ‘art movements’ including the Disability Arts Movement, which arose as a vehicle of protest and assertion of rights as well as a cultural movement. They were then able to connect their own thoughts on what they wanted to express and assert in an artistic context. Many of the 34 students had not visited an art gallery before and found the experience extremely stimulating. We provided an opportunity for them to express themselves through creativity, and to gain confidence and have fun and enjoyment in interacting with children they had not met before. Also to have the chance to exhibit creative work, learn a skill, and experience the rare opportunity of being listened to publicly, in terms of their thoughts and opinions being recognised by others. The main creative tool used by the students was Ipads in the schools, with certain apps employed to create a proteststyle poster, to be later adapted as a placard and displayed as a joint exhibition and statement of advocacy around deaf awareness. The students gained skills in digital making techniques and had discussions about how their viewpoints could be made into a creative motif or design.
Collection
Two major artworks in the Shape Collection were on public display this year, benefiting from high visitor numbers during the long 2018 summer. Jason Wilsher-Mills’ DDA Banner was hung in the atrium of The Art House, Wakefield. The Gold Lamé sculpture by Tony Heaton, which was unveiled at the end of June 2018, was the focus of much media attention and received audience views in the tens to hundreds of thousands. Dot-art, together with Liverpool BID Company and Liverpool Parish Church, proudly announced it as this year’s competition winner, a piece originally commissioned by DaDaFest for their 2014 festival.
09
We also became a partner organisation for the New Museum School. This is part of our contribution to support the Cultural Educational Challenge, promoting cultural opportunities to young people in London who might otherwise have little engagement, within education or outside. Through NMS we recruited a trainee to support Shape’s general programme work on a placement basis. Their role has a digital focus that includes technical and curatorial elements as well as audience engagement and content distribution. The traineeship is for one year and will also support NDACA’s Going Live programme.
From a creative workshop at Rushey Green School, London
10
Jason Wilsher-Mills’ DDA Banner. The Art House, Wakefield.
Children and Young People
This year we hosted four deaf-led London schools at Tate Modern, who undertook tours of artworks in the main gallery collections, and creative workshops with artist Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq. The students were introduced by our lead artist to the idea of ‘art movements’ including the Disability Arts Movement, which arose as a vehicle of protest and assertion of rights as well as a cultural movement. They were then able to connect their own thoughts on what they wanted to express and assert in an artistic context. Many of the 34 students had not visited an art gallery before and found the experience extremely stimulating. We provided an opportunity for them to express themselves through creativity, and to gain confidence and have fun and enjoyment in interacting with children they had not met before. Also to have the chance to exhibit creative work, learn a skill, and experience the rare opportunity of being listened to publicly, in terms of their thoughts and opinions being recognised by others. The main creative tool used by the students was Ipads in the schools, with certain apps employed to create a proteststyle poster, to be later adapted as a placard and displayed as a joint exhibition and statement of advocacy around deaf awareness. The students gained skills in digital making techniques and had discussions about how their viewpoints could be made into a creative motif or design.
Collection
Two major artworks in the Shape Collection were on public display this year, benefiting from high visitor numbers during the long 2018 summer. Jason Wilsher-Mills’ DDA Banner was hung in the atrium of The Art House, Wakefield. The Gold Lamé sculpture by Tony Heaton, which was unveiled at the end of June 2018, was the focus of much media attention and received audience views in the tens to hundreds of thousands. Dot-art, together with Liverpool BID Company and Liverpool Parish Church, proudly announced it as this year’s competition winner, a piece originally commissioned by DaDaFest for their 2014 festival.
09
We also became a partner organisation for the New Museum School. This is part of our contribution to support the Cultural Educational Challenge, promoting cultural opportunities to young people in London who might otherwise have little engagement, within education or outside. Through NMS we recruited a trainee to support Shape’s general programme work on a placement basis. Their role has a digital focus that includes technical and curatorial elements as well as audience engagement and content distribution. The traineeship is for one year and will also support NDACA’s Going Live programme.
From a creative workshop at Rushey Green School, London
10
Unlimited
Unlimited started 2018 with a new round of 13 exceptional artwork awards, with £120,000 to support six Emerging Artist Awards, funded by Spirit of 2012, and seven Research and Development (R&D) Awards, funded by Arts Council England. These also included one R&D Award supported by Wellcome Trust, for an artist to develop a creative project that would engage with health and science research. Selected from 200 applications, of which 39 were shortlisted, a selection panel of arts industry professionals selected 13 works which were across a range of subjects and forms, some covering more traditional art forms such as visual arts, theatre and dance. The new awarded works were more ambitious than ever; from opera to sonic installations, covering topics from the weather to benefit fraud. Across the year we also funded five additional Extra Partnership Projects, some of these were co-commissioned through our partnership with Watershed in Bristol and The Art House, Wakefield. In August 2018 Unlimited launched a call out for the last round of commissions for its Main awards, R&D awards and Emerging Artist awards within the UL3 contract. From over 270 expression of interest applications, the panel whittled these down to a shortlist of 50 projects, before selecting 26 in March 2019 with £550,000 to support the development of ambitious new artistic work which will ultimately be showcased around the country, including at Southbank Centre’s Unlimited Festival in September 2020.
These were funded by Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, British Council and Spirit of 2012, as well as Partnership Awards, working with Wellcome Collection, Farnham Maltings, Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust, GOSH Arts and Forma. In September 2018 we held the Unlimited: The Symposium - a disabled-led, two-day discussion event, held at the Unicorn Theatre on the London’s Southbank. It was aimed at both a national and international audience across the cultural sector, with people attending in or engaging in the discussions and debates online. We welcomed 260 delegates from over 43 countries around the world. The Symposium was aimed at those in the cultural sector, with artists and arts professionals who wanted to discuss the key challenges and opportunities in and surrounding disabilityled arts, and who wanted to engage with different perspectives and to plan for real change. Global audiences watched the live-stream online and joined the discussion on social media. The Unlimited International programme ended in March 2019, with legacy materials remaining in circulation such as the highly popular animation on Removing Barriers, Cards for Inclusion and also a series of case studies on the impact of the International commissions. As Unlimited’s network of allies – arts venues, festivals and organisations that are interested in working with and championing disabled artists and Unlimited commissioned work – continues to grow and develop, the Unlimited programme too continues to develop and be enriched by this wider group of supportive allies. In turn this continues Shape’s work to challenge and change the perception of disabled people, and to further remove societal barriers to creative excellence.
Unlimited: The Symposium. Photography by Rachel Cherry.
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Unlimited
Unlimited started 2018 with a new round of 13 exceptional artwork awards, with £120,000 to support six Emerging Artist Awards, funded by Spirit of 2012, and seven Research and Development (R&D) Awards, funded by Arts Council England. These also included one R&D Award supported by Wellcome Trust, for an artist to develop a creative project that would engage with health and science research. Selected from 200 applications, of which 39 were shortlisted, a selection panel of arts industry professionals selected 13 works which were across a range of subjects and forms, some covering more traditional art forms such as visual arts, theatre and dance. The new awarded works were more ambitious than ever; from opera to sonic installations, covering topics from the weather to benefit fraud. Across the year we also funded five additional Extra Partnership Projects, some of these were co-commissioned through our partnership with Watershed in Bristol and The Art House, Wakefield. In August 2018 Unlimited launched a call out for the last round of commissions for its Main awards, R&D awards and Emerging Artist awards within the UL3 contract. From over 270 expression of interest applications, the panel whittled these down to a shortlist of 50 projects, before selecting 26 in March 2019 with £550,000 to support the development of ambitious new artistic work which will ultimately be showcased around the country, including at Southbank Centre’s Unlimited Festival in September 2020.
These were funded by Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, British Council and Spirit of 2012, as well as Partnership Awards, working with Wellcome Collection, Farnham Maltings, Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust, GOSH Arts and Forma. In September 2018 we held the Unlimited: The Symposium - a disabled-led, two-day discussion event, held at the Unicorn Theatre on the London’s Southbank. It was aimed at both a national and international audience across the cultural sector, with people attending in or engaging in the discussions and debates online. We welcomed 260 delegates from over 43 countries around the world. The Symposium was aimed at those in the cultural sector, with artists and arts professionals who wanted to discuss the key challenges and opportunities in and surrounding disabilityled arts, and who wanted to engage with different perspectives and to plan for real change. Global audiences watched the live-stream online and joined the discussion on social media. The Unlimited International programme ended in March 2019, with legacy materials remaining in circulation such as the highly popular animation on Removing Barriers, Cards for Inclusion and also a series of case studies on the impact of the International commissions. As Unlimited’s network of allies – arts venues, festivals and organisations that are interested in working with and championing disabled artists and Unlimited commissioned work – continues to grow and develop, the Unlimited programme too continues to develop and be enriched by this wider group of supportive allies. In turn this continues Shape’s work to challenge and change the perception of disabled people, and to further remove societal barriers to creative excellence.
Unlimited: The Symposium. Photography by Rachel Cherry.
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Writers
We were delighted, for the fourth year, to support The Literary Consultancy (TLC) as a regional writing partner, supporting disabled writers on a low income to access high quality professional critiques of their work. Eight writers were selected for the Free Reads scheme, and an additional writer was selected for TLC’s excellent mentoring scheme, Chapter and Verse. We were very grateful for advice on selections by author and Shape trustee Lois Keith OBE. We were also pleased to see writers we support appearing in other areas of our programme, as well as gaining external opportunities such as live performance of their work. Two previously supported writers won recognition at The London Writers Awards this year, Spread the Word’s new annual development programme for talented London writers.
The NDACA Wing launch at Bucks New University. Photography by Andy Barker.
NDACA
It was a productive and exciting year for the different strands of the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA) - Shape’s flagship heritage project. NDACA went live throughout 2018/19, launching at several locations, including the House of Lords, where we inaugurated our knowledge-central website, www.the-NDACA.org. NDACA also launched its landmark catalogue of 3,500 digital deposits within the online platform. The NDACA Wing and the NDACA Repository, both at Bucks New University, were unveiled before an invited audience as part of their May 2019 launch. In June 2018, our website the-NDACA.org ‘soft launched’ at our House of Lords event. Speeches were made, the legendary John Kelly performed, and NDACA’s stories, films, and 3,500 deposits went live online for the world to see. Since our 2018/19 launch the-NDACA.org has climbed to the top of the Google Rankings for related searches, thanks to website traffic, social media postings, and articles linking to the website. Furthermore, since the website’s launch many further potential depositors came forward, and so the website catalogue continues to grow and improve. NDACA also supported events at Tate Modern in March 2018 and exhibited at London City Hall in June, September, and continued through November 2018. As we ended the 2018/19 period, between our website reach, publications, our three profiles on the BBC, and other events, NDACA had comfortably reached 5 million online views, and received over 200,000 walk-in visitors at City Hall, Tate and elsewhere.
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Writers
We were delighted, for the fourth year, to support The Literary Consultancy (TLC) as a regional writing partner, supporting disabled writers on a low income to access high quality professional critiques of their work. Eight writers were selected for the Free Reads scheme, and an additional writer was selected for TLC’s excellent mentoring scheme, Chapter and Verse. We were very grateful for advice on selections by author and Shape trustee Lois Keith OBE. We were also pleased to see writers we support appearing in other areas of our programme, as well as gaining external opportunities such as live performance of their work. Two previously supported writers won recognition at The London Writers Awards this year, Spread the Word’s new annual development programme for talented London writers.
The NDACA Wing launch at Bucks New University. Photography by Andy Barker.
NDACA
It was a productive and exciting year for the different strands of the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA) - Shape’s flagship heritage project. NDACA went live throughout 2018/19, launching at several locations, including the House of Lords, where we inaugurated our knowledge-central website, www.the-NDACA.org. NDACA also launched its landmark catalogue of 3,500 digital deposits within the online platform. The NDACA Wing and the NDACA Repository, both at Bucks New University, were unveiled before an invited audience as part of their May 2019 launch. In June 2018, our website the-NDACA.org ‘soft launched’ at our House of Lords event. Speeches were made, the legendary John Kelly performed, and NDACA’s stories, films, and 3,500 deposits went live online for the world to see. Since our 2018/19 launch the-NDACA.org has climbed to the top of the Google Rankings for related searches, thanks to website traffic, social media postings, and articles linking to the website. Furthermore, since the website’s launch many further potential depositors came forward, and so the website catalogue continues to grow and improve. NDACA also supported events at Tate Modern in March 2018 and exhibited at London City Hall in June, September, and continued through November 2018. As we ended the 2018/19 period, between our website reach, publications, our three profiles on the BBC, and other events, NDACA had comfortably reached 5 million online views, and received over 200,000 walk-in visitors at City Hall, Tate and elsewhere.
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Access/Training
Improving access in the arts is one of Shape’s fundamental objectives, and to this end we have been running valuable access training and consultancy services for the sector for over four decades. We had another busy year providing access audits and disability equality training nationally supporting Arts Council England’s Creative Case for Diversity – and internationally, supporting ongoing strategic developments in wider Europe and Asia. We offer our services as tools for building inclusivity in the arts and cultural sector, and for supporting organisational and regional change; our training sessions and resources range across a number of areas, including disability confidence, working with equality legislation and the social model of disability, unconscious bias, accessible marketing, event management and more. This year, we provided training and access services to over 20 UK cultural organisations, much of the work delivered in partnership with Goss Consultancy Ltd, including Tate, Royal Opera House, Henry Moore Foundation, Young Vic Theatre and A New Direction. Our training equipped over 415 arts and cultural sector workers with the skills and confidence required for accessible recruitment, positive employment of disabled people, and a marked improvement in terms of accessibility for Shape Open 2019 audiences. Satisfaction ratings for at the Nunnery this work continues to be Gallery. very high.
International
Working in close partnership with the British Council, we continued building links with overseas organisations, delivering access audits and training in Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as in Japan. This brought us to each nation’s leading cultural institutions and enabled us to influence at ministerial level and across a range of arts and cultural disciplines. In Japan for example, we provided ongoing support for a broad programme of development and improved accessibility and inclusion supporting the 2020 Olympiad and related cultural infrastructure. During this time we delivered six engagements, including mini audits and training sessions, reaching 134 staff members – our trainers were featured in a newspaper while they were there. In Armenia our trainers led on an exploration of inclusive design, supporting a cohort of students studying architecture and related disciplines.
Client feedback included:
“You helped us to understand the many varying aspects of access requirements and how relatively small changes can make a big difference. We found the conversation around accessible signage particularly useful and being able to talk through possible future legislation and requirements with an Access Consultant was incredibly valuable.”
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All across our programme, we delivered as an organisation making the highest level of contribution to the Arts Council’s Creative Case for Diversity, and to support other organisations, in particular other NPOs, in achieving the highest rating they can achieve. This ensures wider sector inclusion and excellence through championing diversity and difference.
2019 Tate Exchange. Photography by Dan Weill.
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Access/Training
Improving access in the arts is one of Shape’s fundamental objectives, and to this end we have been running valuable access training and consultancy services for the sector for over four decades. We had another busy year providing access audits and disability equality training nationally supporting Arts Council England’s Creative Case for Diversity – and internationally, supporting ongoing strategic developments in wider Europe and Asia. We offer our services as tools for building inclusivity in the arts and cultural sector, and for supporting organisational and regional change; our training sessions and resources range across a number of areas, including disability confidence, working with equality legislation and the social model of disability, unconscious bias, accessible marketing, event management and more. This year, we provided training and access services to over 20 UK cultural organisations, much of the work delivered in partnership with Goss Consultancy Ltd, including Tate, Royal Opera House, Henry Moore Foundation, Young Vic Theatre and A New Direction. Our training equipped over 415 arts and cultural sector workers with the skills and confidence required for accessible recruitment, positive employment of disabled people, and a marked improvement in terms of accessibility for Shape Open 2019 audiences. Satisfaction ratings for at the Nunnery this work continues to be Gallery. very high.
International
Working in close partnership with the British Council, we continued building links with overseas organisations, delivering access audits and training in Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as in Japan. This brought us to each nation’s leading cultural institutions and enabled us to influence at ministerial level and across a range of arts and cultural disciplines. In Japan for example, we provided ongoing support for a broad programme of development and improved accessibility and inclusion supporting the 2020 Olympiad and related cultural infrastructure. During this time we delivered six engagements, including mini audits and training sessions, reaching 134 staff members – our trainers were featured in a newspaper while they were there. In Armenia our trainers led on an exploration of inclusive design, supporting a cohort of students studying architecture and related disciplines.
Client feedback included:
“You helped us to understand the many varying aspects of access requirements and how relatively small changes can make a big difference. We found the conversation around accessible signage particularly useful and being able to talk through possible future legislation and requirements with an Access Consultant was incredibly valuable.”
15
All across our programme, we delivered as an organisation making the highest level of contribution to the Arts Council’s Creative Case for Diversity, and to support other organisations, in particular other NPOs, in achieving the highest rating they can achieve. This ensures wider sector inclusion and excellence through championing diversity and difference.
2019 Tate Exchange. Photography by Dan Weill.
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Balance Sheet
Statement of Financial Activities
2019 Fixed Assets: Tangible Assets
£
10,591
2018 £
14,962
Current Assets: Debtors
308,461
272,398
Cash at bank and in hand
207,695
300,066
516,156
572,464
(244,131)
(306,425)
Net Current Assets
272,025
266,039
Total Assets less Current Liabilities
282,616
281,001
282,616
281,001
Donations and legacies
288,458
297,199
Activities for generating funds
7,662
7,962
227
213
1,536,224
1,279,518
40,403
40,168
-
-
1,872,974
1,625,060
63
9,917
1,793,600
1,656,708
70,431
75,508
7,265
-
1,871,359
1,742,133
1,615
(117,073)
Total funds brought forward
281,001
398,074
Total funds carried forward
282,616
281,001
Investments Charitable activities:
Skills, Diversity & Leadership
Total Income Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities: Arts & Partnerships Audiences & Engagement
Represented by Funds: Restricted income funds
Skills, Diversity & Leadership 194,337
164,952
• Designated funds
15,051
19,421
• General funds
73,228
96,628
88,279
116,049
Unrestricted income funds:
Total Charity Funds
17
282,616
281,001
£
Income from:
Audiences & Engagement
Creditors: amounts due within one year
2018
£
Arts & Partnerships
Liabilities:
Total Net Assets
2019
Total Expenditure Net Movement
18
Balance Sheet
Statement of Financial Activities
2019 Fixed Assets: Tangible Assets
£
10,591
2018 £
14,962
Current Assets: Debtors
308,461
272,398
Cash at bank and in hand
207,695
300,066
516,156
572,464
(244,131)
(306,425)
Net Current Assets
272,025
266,039
Total Assets less Current Liabilities
282,616
281,001
282,616
281,001
Donations and legacies
288,458
297,199
Activities for generating funds
7,662
7,962
227
213
1,536,224
1,279,518
40,403
40,168
-
-
1,872,974
1,625,060
63
9,917
1,793,600
1,656,708
70,431
75,508
7,265
-
1,871,359
1,742,133
1,615
(117,073)
Total funds brought forward
281,001
398,074
Total funds carried forward
282,616
281,001
Investments Charitable activities:
Skills, Diversity & Leadership
Total Income Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities: Arts & Partnerships Audiences & Engagement
Represented by Funds: Restricted income funds
Skills, Diversity & Leadership 194,337
164,952
• Designated funds
15,051
19,421
• General funds
73,228
96,628
88,279
116,049
Unrestricted income funds:
Total Charity Funds
17
282,616
281,001
£
Income from:
Audiences & Engagement
Creditors: amounts due within one year
2018
£
Arts & Partnerships
Liabilities:
Total Net Assets
2019
Total Expenditure Net Movement
18
Sources of Income 2018-2019
ÂŁ
%
1,269,033
67.8%
Charitable Trusts, Lottery, Individuals and Events
531,661
28.4%
Earned and Other Income
72,280
3.9%
1,872,974
100%
Revenue and Statutory Funders
Total Income
Income
Shape is grateful for the support of all our funders and donors
Expenditure
Expenditure Profile 2018-2019
Generating Funds
ÂŁ
% 63
0.0%
Charitable: Arts & Partnerships Audiences & Engagement Skills, Diversity & Leadership
Total Expenditure
19
1,793,600
95.8%
70,431
3.8%
7,265
0.4%
1,871,359
100%
Whilst we are unable to acknowledge everyone here, we would like to thank the above funders in particular, who provided us with significant grants and support. We extend our immense gratitude to our Patron Yinka Shonibare CBE (RA) for his generous support. We would also like to extend special thanks to Gallery at 12 in Staffordshire for their ongoing fundraisers in support of Shape, and to Cass Art for their generosity in donating materials for use in our artistic activities.
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Sources of Income 2018-2019
ÂŁ
%
1,269,033
67.8%
Charitable Trusts, Lottery, Individuals and Events
531,661
28.4%
Earned and Other Income
72,280
3.9%
1,872,974
100%
Revenue and Statutory Funders
Total Income
Income
Shape is grateful for the support of all our funders and donors
Expenditure
Expenditure Profile 2018-2019
Generating Funds
ÂŁ
% 63
0.0%
Charitable: Arts & Partnerships Audiences & Engagement Skills, Diversity & Leadership
Total Expenditure
19
1,793,600
95.8%
70,431
3.8%
7,265
0.4%
1,871,359
100%
Whilst we are unable to acknowledge everyone here, we would like to thank the above funders in particular, who provided us with significant grants and support. We extend our immense gratitude to our Patron Yinka Shonibare CBE (RA) for his generous support. We would also like to extend special thanks to Gallery at 12 in Staffordshire for their ongoing fundraisers in support of Shape, and to Cass Art for their generosity in donating materials for use in our artistic activities.
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