Shape Arts or Shape is a London-based arts charity, funded by Arts Council England, that is committed to providing 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. Shape Arts partners with major cultural institutions to create positive change for disabled people by improving access, exposure and opportunities in contemporary art.
Their mission is to remove barriers to creative excellence by providing skills, opportunities and support for disabled artists, individuals and cultural organisations; and help build a more inclusive cultural sector. It does this through a variety of programmes:
The Shape Open: an annual exhibition of artwork by disabled and non-disabled artists created in response to a disability-centred theme. Usually held in a high-profile, artist-led spaces.
Unlimited: an arts commissioning programme offering talented disabled artists funds and mentoring support to develop, produce and show ambitious work. Delivered in partnership with Artsadmin.
NDACA the 'National Disability Arts Collection and Archive': a £1-million digital archive chronicling the history of disability arts in the UK.
Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary: flagship art award, designed to support a mid-career disabled artist or artists, looking to develop their practice and build their profile by offering funds and a three month residency at a high-profile arts venue.
Shape Collection: an expanding collection currently holding over 20 works on long term or permanent loan, it includes sculptural pieces by the late Adam Reynolds, and the Incarnate photographic series by Tom Shakespeare. Other artists include Jason Wilsher-Mills, Caroline Cardus, James Lake and Tony Heaton OBE.
Shape Arts arranges exhibitions, awards bursaries to promising disabled artists and provides training in media and marketing skills. From December 2012 - Spring 2013, a pop-up exhibition entitled 'Shape in the City' was presented in the centre of the City of London. Shape had a temporary exhibition space for two years at Westfield Stratford City from 2012 - 2014.
Notable artists
Yinka Shonibare CBE, now Patron of their annual Shape Open, is a disabled artist who worked as an arts development officer at Shape in the 90s. Shonibare acknowledges the role that Shape Arts played in his early career: "I worked for Shape three days a week, running workshops on singing, dancing or visual arts for disabled and older people in day centres and hospitals. The job meant I could afford to rent a studio and it gave me organisational and fundraising skills." In 2013, Shonibare was announced as patron of the annual Shape 'Open' exhibition where disabled and non-disabled artists are invited to submit work in response to a disability focused theme.
Guy Evans, a founding member of Echo City, is a progressive rock drummer with Subterraneans who worked at Shape Arts in an administrative role and as a workshop leader.
Kelly Knox, one of Britain's leading disabled fashion models, worked at Shape Arts for a number of years as a programme co-ordinator.
The Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary was inaugurated in 2008 in memory of the sculptor Adam Reynolds. 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 and New Art Gallery Walsall.
