'Irregular' Art Schools: Methods for Supporting the Professional Development of Learning Disabled Artists

在过去的20年里，“包容性艺术”作为一个术语获得了特别的流行，它描述了学习障碍者通过与专业促进者合作的模式创作的艺术品。事实证明，这种艺术创作方法是成功的，导致专业组织和高知名度展览的激增;提高了学习残疾人作为艺术家、表演者和策展人的形象。然而，尽管有这种势头，仍然有少数情况下，学习残疾人被承认为艺术家本身的权利。然而，在同一时期，学习障碍者的自我倡导和社会关怀政策的改革都强烈地反映了这样一种信念，即学习障碍者应该被视为个体，社会关怀支持应该以该人的特定需求和兴趣为主导。虽然以人为本的方法的修辞注入了社会关怀政策，但学习残疾艺术家发展他们的实践的一个主要障碍正是获得合适的量身定制的支持。最终，在包容性艺术的背景下，与非残疾人相比，学习残疾艺术家获得个性化职业发展机会的途径很少。这种差异归因于两个不同但又密不可分的领域，这两个领域构成了本项目的重点。首先是社会关怀与艺术政策和资金的交叉。该项目将与利兹市理事会合作，探讨如何扩大对以人为本的支持的承诺，以更好地促进艺术事业，以及如何将艺术和社会关怀的不同领域联系起来。然而，第二个问题是包容性艺术所提出的“能力”、“专业”、“成功”和“质量”的概念问题。通过与合作伙伴包容性艺术工作室Pyramid的学习型残疾艺术家进行参与式行动研究，该项目将研究如何扩展或多样化艺术家主导的空间、大学和出版等背景，以更好地为他们服务。第一阶段将重建社会护理支助结构，以最好地促进他们的融入。在第二阶段，金字塔艺术家将与Assembly House共同设计一个艺术家主导的开发模式，并反过来阐明艺术家主导的空间如何解决部门的访问问题。在第三阶段，该项目将促进金字塔艺术家和利兹大学美术、艺术史和文化研究学院的美术学生之间的合作创造性干预。这将研究在充满活力的艺术学校的现有结构中学习残疾艺术家的机会，同时评估如何在这些背景下理解艺术质量，关键性和专业知识的想法。除了这项核心研究，其他活动旨在进一步产生变革性的影响。1)该项目将促进社会政策研讨会，将包容性艺术家与利兹市理事会的社会护理从业人员聚集在一起，询问支持社会护理政策的关键概念，促进知识交流。2)包容性地出版一本关于包容性艺术的特刊，尝试写作和同行评议的方法，以包括学习障碍的艺术家。3)领导包容性艺术“智囊团”，连接调解人解决英国的关键部门问题，以及4）国际包容性艺术知识交流。这些综合方法将使我们能够以推进学术辩论的方式“打开”包容性艺术实践的持久问题，然后返回挑战和改变目前阻止学习障碍艺术家蓬勃发展的结构。

Over the past 20 years 'inclusive arts' has gained particular currency as a term describing the artwork created by learning disabled people via a collaboration model with professional facilitators. This approach to creating art has proved successful, resulting in a proliferation of specialist organisations and high-profile exhibitions; raising the profile of learning disabled people as artists, performers and curators. However, despite this momentum there remain few instances of learning disabled people being recognised as artists in their own right. Instead, they are producing and exhibiting as a cohort of artists represented by their respective organisations; comprising self-expression.Yet during this same period, both learning disabled self-advocacy and reforms in social care policy have very strongly reflected the belief that learning disabled people should be treated as individuals, that social care support should be led by that person's specific needs and interests. While the rhetoric of person-centred approaches infuses social care policy, a major barrier to learning disabled artists in developing their practice is precisely getting the right tailored support in place. Ultimately, outside the context of inclusive art there are very few avenues for learning disabled artists to access personalised career development opportunities in comparison to their non-disabled counterparts. This disparity is attributed to two different, yet inextricably connected domains which comprise the focus for this project. The first is the intersection of social care with arts policy and funding. The project will explore, in partnership with Leeds City Council, how the commitments made to person-centred support can be extended to better enable artistic endeavours and how the different domains of art and social care can be connected. The second, however, gets underneath the conceptual questions raised by inclusive art of 'autonomy', 'expertise', 'success' and 'quality'.Via participatory action-research with learning disabled artists from partner inclusive arts studio Pyramid, this project will examine how contexts such as artist-led spaces, universities and publishing might be extended or diversified to better serve them. Phase 1 will see the redevelopment of social care support structures to best facilitate their inclusion. In phase 2, Pyramid artists will co-design an artist-led model of development with Assembly House, and in turn illuminate how artist-led spaces might address sector issues of access. During phase 3, the project will facilitate collaborative creative interventions between Pyramid artists and fine art students in University of Leeds' School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies. This will examine opportunities for learning disabled artists within the current structures of a vibrant art school, while assessing how ideas of artistic quality, criticality and expertise are understood across these contexts.Alongside this core research, additional activities aim to further generate a transformational impact. 1) This project will facilitate social policy workshops, bringing together inclusive artists with social care practitioners at Leeds City Council to interrogate critical concepts underpinning social care policy, facilitating knowledge exchange. 2) To inclusively publish a special edition journal on inclusive art, experimenting with approaches to writing and peer reviewing to include learning disabled artists. 3) Leading inclusive art 'think-tanks', connecting facilitators to troubleshoot key sector issues in the UK, alongside 4) an international inclusive arts knowledge exchange. These combined approaches will allow us to 'crack open' persistent questions of inclusive artistic practice in ways which advance academic debates, and then return back to challenge and change the structures which are currently preventing learning disabled artists from flourishing.