Shape Arts

Last updated

Shape Arts
Registration no.279184
Legal statusCharity
Location
  • London, UK
Revenue (2021)
£2,063,770 [1]
Staff (2021)
8
Website https://www.shapearts.org.uk/

Shape Arts or Shape is a British arts charity, working across the UK and internationally, funded by Arts Council England. [2] It provides opportunities for disabled individuals wanting to work in the arts and cultural sector. It trains participants and runs arts and development programmes across all of the creative arts: visual arts, music, dance, writing and acting.

Contents

History

Shape was founded by Gina Levete MBE in 1976 with project funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation. [3] Tony Heaton OBE was CEO from 2008-2017, the current CEO is David Hevey [4]

Shape was informed by the political activism of the 1960s. Disability arts grew out of the disability rights movement, and the wider struggle by disabled people for equality and the right to participate in all aspects of society. [3]

Activities

Shape Arts arranges exhibitions, [5] awards bursaries to promising disabled artists [6] and provides training in media and marketing skills. [7] From December 2012 - Spring 2013, a pop-up exhibition entitled 'Shape in the City' was presented in the centre of the City of London. [8] Shape had a temporary exhibition space for two years at Westfield Stratford City [9] from 2012 - 2014.

In 2024, Shape Arts exhibited Dam in Venice at the Venice Biennale with Arts Council England funding. [10]

Notable artists

Financial Support

Renowned British contemporary artists have donated artworks to Shape to raise money for the charity through an auction at Bonhams. Funds raised from the sale were matched by the Arts Council’s Catalyst Arts Fund and went towards supporting new arts activities and opportunities for disabled people. Works by Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mat Collishaw, Angela de la Cruz, Tacita Dean, Sir Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn and David Shrigley were auctioned at Bonhams London on 4 March 2014. [15]

In 2016, an online auction at Paddle8 included donations of twenty-five artworks from a range of internationally acclaimed artists including Jeremy Deller, Julie Umerle, Candida Hofer, Ragnar Kjartansson, Hito Steyerl, Grayson Perry and Hans Op de Beeck in support of Shape Arts' 40th anniversary and the continued importance of the organisation's work. [16] [17]

Adam Reynolds' Memorial Bursary

The Adam Reynolds Award, formerly the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary, [18] was inaugurated in 2008 in memory of the sculptor Adam Reynolds(1959-2005). It is one of the most significant opportunities for disabled visual artists in the UK, offering an opportunity to engage in a three-month residency at a high-profile gallery. Venues that have hosted the residencies include the V & A, Camden Arts Centre, Spike Island, The BALTIC, the Bluecoat Gallery [19] and New Art Gallery Walsall. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Quinn</span> British painter and sculptor

Marc Quinn is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, identity, environment, and the media. His work has used materials that vary widely, from blood, bread and flowers, to marble and stainless steel. Quinn has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Sir John Soane's Museum, the Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Fondation Beyeler, Fondazione Prada, and South London Gallery. The artist was a notable member of the Young British Artists movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Academy Summer Exhibition</span> Annual open art exhibition in England

The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, architectural designs and models, and is the largest and most popular open exhibition in the United Kingdom. It is also "the longest continuously staged exhibition of contemporary art in the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yinka Shonibare</span> British artist (born 1962)

Yinka Shonibare, is a British artist living in the United Kingdom. His work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. A hallmark of his art is the brightly coloured Ankara fabric he uses. As Shonibare is paralysed on one side of his body, he uses assistants to make works under his direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Art Gallery Walsall</span> Art gallery in Walsall, West Midlands, England

The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery in the town of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery and additional money from the European Regional Development Fund and City Challenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camden Art Centre</span> Building in London Borough of Camden, England

Camden Art Centre is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a programme including exhibitions, learning, residencies, off-site projects, artist-led activities, and courses.

<i>Sensation</i> (art exhibition) 1997–2000 art exhibition

Sensation was an exhibition of the collection of contemporary art owned by Charles Saatchi, including many works by Young British Artists (YBAs), which first took place 18 September – 28 December 1997 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The exhibition later toured to the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin and the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. A proposed showing at the National Gallery of Australia was cancelled when the gallery's director decided the exhibition was "too close to the market."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gasworks Gallery</span> Contemporary art gallery in Kennington, London

Gasworks is a contemporary art organisation based near The Oval cricket ground in Kennington, South East London, which comprises a gallery and 13 artist studios as well offering residencies, international fellowships and educational projects.

Outset Contemporary Art Fund is an arts charity established in 2003, and based in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellcome Collection</span> Museum and library in London, England

Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the Wellcome Collection attracts over 550,000 visitors per year. The venue offers contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop and conference facilities. In addition to its physical facilities, Wellcome Collection maintains a website of original articles and archived images related to health.

Iniva is the Institute of International Visual Art, a visual arts organisation based in London that collaborates with contemporary artists, curators and writers. Iniva runs the Stuart Hall Library, and is based in Pimlico, on the campus of Chelsea College of Arts.

Disability art or disability arts is any art, theatre, fine arts, film, writing, music or club that takes disability as its theme or whose context relates to disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DaDaFest</span> Disability arts organisation based in Liverpool, UK

DaDaFest is a disability arts organisation based in Liverpool, UK. It delivers an international, biennial festival and organises other events to promote disability and deaf arts from a variety of cultural perspectives. Alongside the festival and events, DaDaFest organises opportunities for disabled and deaf people to gain access to the arts. This includes training and a youth focused programme.

Sunara Begum is an English visual and performance artist, filmmaker, photographer and writer of Bangladeshi descent. She uses installation, film, photography, live performance, sonics and text. Begum is the founder and director of Chand Aftara, a creation centre. Begum is also the co-founder of Living Legacies, a traditional music archive in Gambia and New Horizons Africa, a music and arts festival in Lagos, Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Moore (curator)</span>

Ben Moore is a British art curator, entrepreneur and artist. He is the founder and curator of Art Below, a contemporary art organisation that places art in public spaces and has had shows in England, Germany, Japan and the United States. He is also the founder and curator of Art Wars, an exhibition of designs based on the Imperial Stormtrooper helmets from Star Wars. In 2021, Moore was part of the Art Wars NFT project which resulted in massive losses for the purchasers of the NFTs and claims of copyright theft from artists whose physical work was reproduced without their permission.

Rachel Gadsden is a UK-based visual artist and performance artist who is exhibited internationally and who works across the mainstream and disability art sectors. Gadsden has led a range of national and international participative programmes exploring themes of fragility and resilience. She has had a lung condition all her life and is injected by a syringe driver at one-minute intervals with the medication she needs to keep her alive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attenborough Arts Centre</span> Arts centre in Leicester, England

The Attenborough Arts Centre is an arts centre on Lancaster Road, Leicester, United Kingdom. It is the University of Leicester arts centre but also serves Leicester as a whole. The centre's access and inclusive work has been recognised, through multiple awards and grants from Arts Council England, BBC Children in Need, LeicesterShire Promotions, Art Fund and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Anthony James Heaton OBE is a British sculptor, disability rights activist and arts administrator, who was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to the arts and the disability arts movement. He was CEO of the arts charity Shape until March 2017. In 2012, he won the competition to produce an installation celebrating Channel 4's involvement in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. This produced his 'Monument for the Unintended Performer'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodman Gallery</span> Art gallery founded in Johannesburg, South Africa

Goodman Gallery is an art gallery founded in Johannesburg, South Africa by Linda Givon in 1966. The gallery operates spaces in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and London. It represents both established and emerging artists who are regarded as having helped shape the landscape of contemporary art in Southern Africa.

Natalie Finnemore is a British visual artist who creates sculptural installations. Finnemore's artistic practice utilises drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture. Her sculptural work is influenced by design, and explores the viewer's expectations or relationship with form, function and play.

<i>The American Library</i> Contemporary installation art piece by Yinka Shonibare

The American Library is a 2018 contemporary art installation artwork piece by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare comprising 6,000 books of different sizes wrapped in Dutch wax printed cotton; 3,200 of the books carry names of immigrants, or the descendants of recent immigrants, to the United States who have had an impact on American culture. It was conceived as a reaction to Donald Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric.

References

  1. ↑ "Charity Overview, SHAPE LONDON - 279184". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "Browse: National portfolio organisations". Arts Council. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Shape at a glance". Shape Arts. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Evans, Kim (15 March 2011). "Tony Heaton: joining the national network". Cultural Leadership Programme. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  5. ↑ disabilityhorizons (16 February 2012). "Calling all disabled artists | Disability and art". Disabilityhorizons.com. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "News: Shape Arts announces winner of the Adam Reynolds Bursary 2012". disability arts online. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Foundation for Community Dance :: Online Training Events – Creative Steps – Shape Arts". Communitydance.org.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Shape Arts Pop-up Gallery in The City". London Pop-ups. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Visit Shape Gallery". Shape Arts. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Frieze. DAM in Venice. Retrieved 13 June 2024
  11. ↑ "An artist with a lot of bottle — Disability Now". Disabilitynow.org.uk. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Shape Open exhibition Patron Announced" . Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Yinka Shonibare MBE Announces Winner of Shape Open 2013" . Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Unique music". ccskills.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Blog | Shape's Inaugural Contemporary Art Fundraiser". Shape Arts. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  16. ↑ "Shape Benefit Art Auction & Exhibition". Shape Arts. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  17. ↑ Jack Hutchinson (26 April 2016). "Shape Arts 40th anniversary auction raises £27,000 « a-n The Artists Information Company". A-n.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Adam Reynolds Award". Shape Arts. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "Recipient of Shape's Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary for a…". Bluecoat. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  20. ↑ "Discussion: John O'Donoghue gives an overview of the Shape's Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary: The First Four". disability arts online. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.