Arts Program Paints a New Picture of Disability

The Explorers Project is working to change the way we think about mental disability at the “Neurodiversity and Art” seminar this week.

It advocates a radical model of understanding mental disability that uses the term “neurodiversity” to explain it as a natural genetic variation that should not be pathologised.

The Explorers Project is a 3-year program conceived by Project Artworks that aims to give Londoners with complex needs a voice through visual art. The seminar, which takes place on November 9 at the Autograph ABP gallery, is its latest effort to challenge traditional attitudes about one of London’s most marginalised communities.

Tim Corrigan, the Explorers Project Lead Artist, says that state funding cuts to services are creating a “crisis” for disabled people. The Explorers Project works directly with their families and support networks to improve their outcomes in social care. It also partners with arts organisations to lead art-making workshops for disabled individuals who may or may not identify as artists.

“We get people to look past disability and just see someone engaged in making something in a very spirited, exciting and skilful way.”

Mike Layward, a disabled artist and activist, says that inaccessibility in studio spaces, lack of confidence and cost of living are just some of the barriers that emerging disabled artists face when breaking into the London arts scene.

Martin Swan, the Explorers Project coordinator, believes that promoting the work of disabled artists in mainstream art circles will not only effect social change, but also benefit the art world.

“Neurodiversity is an engaging and active part of human existence. It’s part of the human condition and part of who we are,” he says. “If the arts organizations that we work with are embedding neurodiversity at the highest level, that’s a significant change within art, and art is an important part of who we are in the U.K.”

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