Research

International focus on inclusive arts

Published 16 April 2012

Artists with complex learning disabilities are to show their collaborative arts work with mainstream artists in the first major international exhibition to focus on inclusive art.

The inclusive art exhibition and symposium, which will be shown on London's Southbank, is being led by Alice Fox, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton's Faculty of Arts.

The Rocket Artist group whom she directs has been awarded £59,000 by Arts Council England to deliver the event at the Spirit Level gallery in March 2013.

Entitled Side by Side, the project will be a unique collaboration between the learning disabled Rocket Artists group, the Southbank Centre, and a range of other artists and arts organisations. An accompanying publication will include essays on best practice, case studies and interviews with artists involved in inclusive arts.

The project will bring together those who lead inclusive practice in partnership with the mainstream arts world, whether through performance, film, exhibition, music, publishing, showing collaborative work on an international scale for the first time.

Alice, who secured the funding, graduated from the Faculty of Arts with a BA(Hons) Fine Art in 1989. Her research focuses on inclusive arts practice and education and she has worked with people with complex learning disabilities and challenging behaviour, both in the context of arts practice and the advocacy of human rights.

She said: "This funding will provide us with a really good opportunity to pull people together from all over the world to talk about what inclusive arts means and exhibit to a broad audience."

The Rocket Artists group was established by Alice in 2002. It is funded by Arts Council England, South East and based at Phoenix Artists Studios in Brighton. Learning-disabled artists from the group make artwork alongside staff and students from the University of Brighton and have previously exhibited at Tate Modern, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester and recently at Brussels Medical Museum.

As well as making art, Rocket Artists demonstrate their practice through workshops, working with schools and early years settings, occupational health students, inclusive festivals and open studios.

View a University of Brighton research film about Inclusive Arts.