Screenprinting workshops

Eight artists from our Connect programme were invited to take part in a screenprinting workshop, tutored by John Fitzpatrick.

For some of them, it was the first time they explored screenprinting. They tried their hand at different techniques, like multiple colours, duotone or tritone. Each workshop was over a full week (with four people per workshop), during which the artists developed their ideas, explored the techniques and then proceeded to the actual screenprinting.

The results are beautiful, with elements of portraiture, landscape and a few abstract works. They can be seen in our current show Press to Paper, running until 23 December.

Posted on 29th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News 

Wonderful raffle prize from the SECC for our Xmas fundraiser!

The SECC has very generously donated 4 tickets for their panto towards our raffle/fundraising event, taking place in Mono on Thursday 15 December, from 8pm til late.

This year, they will show Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates, with John Barrowman in the title role of Robinson Crusoe and Glasgow pantomime favourites, The Krankies, as Captain Crusoe & Jimmy Crusoe! After the succes of their previous panto and their use of 3D effects, the show’s producers have created brand-new and even more spectacular 3D for this production! What a prize! Perfect to put you in a holiday mood!

Many, many thanks to SECC for their generosity!

Raffle tickets will be sold at the door on the night, £1 per ticket or £4 for 5.

Posted on 29th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Fundraising  News 

Meet the Volunteers: Lauren Bryden

This week, meet our fantastic volunteer Lauren Bryden.

Lauren recently graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in Textile Design and later went on to complete a Creative Start-up Programme at Ico Ico. Throughout her studies, Lauren has gained a variety of experience delivering art activities to many groups including young people with challenging behaviour and additional support needs. Lauren was keen to extend her experience in this field by volunteering at Project Ability. She has been working with us for 10 weeks, supporting the artist’s and young people in our Saturday afternoon classes. Her input to the classes has been very much appreciated by both the artist’s and the children she has worked with.

Thanks for everything Lauren!

Posted on 23rd November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News  Recruitment & Volunteering  Workshops 

Xmas pound Appeal Update

In four weeks we have raised a massive £783.

This is a considerable amount of money and we are thankful to every person who has been kind enough to donate. This money will help us provide more visual art workshops and film classes to more people.

‘Gives you something to get up for in the morning, mixing with other people, gives you the opportunity to do things that if you didn't come you wouldn't take on” - participant on the Connect programme. Connect is our specialist arts and well-being programme for people with mental health issues.

“My seascape picture has worked out beautifully and I feel confident that I have achieved something.” – young person attending the Saturday Art Class.

You can help us reach our target of £2500 by donating money – cash, cheque or card or through JustTextGiving (text PABL11 £10 or any other amount of your choice to 70070), buying our original xmas cards and 2011 calendar, purchasing original art work from the gallery (Project Ability takes a 40% commission on all sales) and publications and gift items from our shop and coming along to our fantastic fundraiser on the 15th December at Mono.

“Keep up the awesomeness!” - Create participant.

Posted on 23rd November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Exhibitions  Film & Animation  Fundraising  News  Shop  Workshops 

Stephen Reilly’s Prague Highlights

Artist Steven Reilly went to Prague and made a large collage on the theme of Space: the final frontier. Here are his comments on the event:

"Prague was very nice but it was very cold. We went on the trams. We saw a church with a fancy clock. We went out for lunch and dinner to fancy restaurants. The hotel was very big. We climbed a big hill.

There were lots of people at the conference and we watched people talking when I wasn’t working on the collage. I was interviewed by people from Denmark, and Czech television was passing and took pictures. There was people from Germany and Denmark and Mathew from England.

It was a long journey and we went on two planes."

Posted on 21st November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  News 

Winter workshops: Introduction to Film

There will be a new block of Introduction to Film workshop for 6-12 year olds with disabilities, from Wednesday 23 November.

* Time: 18:00-19:30
* Dates: 23 November - 14 December 2011 and 11 January - 1st February 2012. Note: there will be a break in the middle for Christmas.
* Cost: £40 for 8 weeks

To book a place, call us on 0141 552 2822 and ask for a form. Places are given on a first come first served basis.

Posted on 16th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Film & Animation  News  Workshops 

Free Visual Arts Workshops for schools with Project Ability

We are pleased to announce the opportunity for school groups to participate in an exciting 2hr flag making workshop. Funded by the Inspiration Festival 2011, pupils will have the opportunity to create their own colourful canvas flags inspired by the different Commonwealth nations.

This opportunity is open to Primary Schools only and places are given on a first come first served basis. Maximum group size 12 pupils. Workshops can take place at our excellently equipped and fully accessible Trongate 103 workshops or our tutors can travel to the school for a classroom based workshop. Workshop dates and times are negotiable.

To book a place for your school please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call us on 0141 522 2822.

Posted on 16th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News  Workshops 

Xmas Pound Appeal update: over £500 already!

We have reached a staggering £512.50 – in 3 weeks!!! We are truly grateful for every pound and pence donated, thank you.

Our xmas cards are also selling well. This year's top seller is without a doubt Skye McLaughlin’s “Birds”. There are only a few packets left. Well done Skye! All proceeds from the sale of xmas cards and calendars will be added to our Xmas Pounds Appeal helping us reach our target of £2500.

Click here to see how you can help!

Posted on 15th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Fundraising  News  Workshops 

Project Ability was in Prague for the Conquering Public Spaces International Conference

Prague is a beautiful city - in mid-November it was cold with brilliant blue skies and blinding sunshine. Check out artist Steven Reilly in his shades!

We were in Prague at the invitation of the film and media organisation Inventura to deliver a presentation about Project Ability, our practice and our success at promoting artists with disabilities within a contemporary arts market to the “Conquering Public Spaces” International Conference as part of the 6th annual “Normal Festival”.

We were joined by colleagues from Europe, Israel and Australia and a large number of organisations from England. Some organisations we already knew and had worked with on previous occasions such as Brighton based Carousel who manage the Oska Bright Film Festival while many more were new to us. Also from Brighton were the Rocket Artists who we have been making plans with to collaborate on a project in 2012 (watch this space!) and Arty Party from the West Midlands who screened their fantastic animation “Let me in” and who have been working with artist Tanya Raabe.

The conference focussed on how people with disabilities were using film and media to express themselves and claim their right to be heard in today’s society. It also included representation from organisations working in dance, theatre, performance, music and the visual arts.

The conference was held in Prague’s magnificent Central Library and Project Ability artists Valerie O’Regan and Steven Reilly set up in the foyer and delivered a drop-in collage workshop on the theme of “space: the final frontier”.

Posted on 15th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  News 

Highlights from My Residency in Wales - By Edward Henry

Today, it's Edward's turn to talk about the highlights of his residency in Wales. Both him and Cameron Morgan had a wonderful experience and only had positive things to say!

"This was my first time in Wales, the scenery was great and I enjoyed doing the art work even though the workshop was a bit smaller than Project Ability’s. I painted from my imagination and lots of birds which is my favourite subject.

I would like to go back again and see the people at Celf. They became good friends.

My work came on and was a great success. I produced eleven works of art and sold one.

There were hills and mountains and we saw Kites in flight – they are a bird of prey and this was the first time I have seen them. We saw a lot of sheep and on the train journey we saw lots of pheasants. The train journey there and back was great although I almost got left behind on the train and ended up in London.

I worked with Cameron in the studio every day even without the staff which gave me a chance to produce good work as there wasn’t any distractions.

I hope the people from Celf can see my exhibition and the people in the town of Llandrindod Wells come to see it.

It was a good experience being in a new place on my own; shopping and cooking in a different place was a good experience for me."

For more photos, please click here.

Posted on 14th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  News 

Meet the Volunteers: John Cocozza

For Meet the Volunteers this week we have John Cocozza, a very familiar face over the years at Project Ability and one of the founder members of Art Trek. John has been involved with our organisation for many years and as well as constantly producing new pieces of art within our Aspire programme, he also contributes in lots of other ways. He and a number of his fellow Art Treker’s have been manning our gallery for several weeks now, meeting and greeting visitors.

‘I’m really enjoying it and it helps to get me out the house. It gives me a chance to do my ideas too and draw them.’

In between meeting our visitors, John quietly sketches in his sketch pad, this role allows him to explore new ideas for his own art work too. So not only do our visitors have an opportunity to talk to one of our participants first hand, but also see the artist at work!

John and all of our volunteers' hard work is greatly appreciated and very much enhances the service we can provide, so a big thank you to you all for your contributions!

Posted on 9th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Exhibitions  News  Recruitment & Volunteering 

On Your Radar

On Your Radar is back! The day of celebration of Arts and Disability in Glasgow will take place in Tramway this year, and be a collaborative effort between 4 organisations.

Come join Project Ability, Theatre Arts, Indepen-dance and Artform for a day of performances, exhibition and worshops.

Wednesday 7th December 2011

• 10am - 12pm: workshops
• 1pm - 1.45pm: performances
• 1.45pm - 2.30pm: social time

Places are limited, so make sure you book in advance: just contact us on 0141 552 2822.

Posted on 9th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  News  Workshops 

Xmas pound Appeal update

We have received some fantastic donations this week, and after only two weeks the appeal has reached £300.00

If all of us were to give even just £1, we would have no problem reaching our target of £2500! Just text PABL11 £1 (or any other amount of your choice) to 70070, or click here to see how you can donate.

After the successful sale of books at last week’s First Thursday, Stirling Books have agreed to keep a stock of quality second-hand books in the shop through to the end of the Collected exhibition on the 19th November. Project Ability will receive a third of sales proceeds.

You can also contribute by purchasing our original Christmas cards and calendars.

We really appreciate your support and all funds raised goes towards our year round arts programme of classes, workshops, exhibitions and events for people with disabilities.

Thank you all!

Posted on 8th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Fundraising  News  Trongate 103  Workshops 

Highlights from my Welsh residency - by Cameron Morgan

"I like Wales, it's very nice, nice wee quaint shops. It’s like a Miss Marple's town.

There are lots of nice buildings in the area with lots of details.

The countryside is brilliant. We went to the dams on a dreichy day, but it was still good. We went to see an old church. Katie took us for a walk to see Red Kites. The farmer puts meat on the ground and the kites come flocking in. I went on a few walks around the town. There was a nice park with a lake and lots of grey squirrels.

We worked in the small studio space downstairs which is really small but nice and quiet. The flat we stayed in had original stained glass windows.

Quite a few people came on the opening night. Edward sold a picture of a spoon-billed bird and I sold a life drawing.

We did life drawing on Saturday and drew bikes in a museum on Tuesday.

I took a lot of photos and drew the dragon on the lake, the stained glass in the flat and bikes, life drawing and wild life and one of Edwards jacket. I used oil pastels mainly and ink and chalk pastels.

I would go back, and if I was born there I would stay there... but its nice to be back home."

For more photos, please visit our Facebook page, or click here for a slideshow.

Posted on 8th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Exhibitions  News 

Gallery Talk: Ninna Hultgren Borg, Director of Inuti

Ninna Hultgren Borg, Director of Inuti, Stockholm, Sweden will be in the gallery on the 23rd November at 2pm to talk about the work of Inuti.

The INUTI foundation is an arts organisation which provides opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.

Inuti has two studios and a gallery all situated in downtown Stockholm and works with 30 people. They have a staff of ten people who are qualified supervisors with backgrounds in the arts, education and psychology. Their work is built upon the LSS law, a special law in Sweden which gives people with intellectual disabilities the right to their choice of support and fulfilling daily activity.

Inuti looks upon art as a means of communication and tries to guide and help each individual to develop their personal style and proficiency, giving them means to express themselves in different ways.

Wednesday 23 November 2011 - 2pm - Project Ability Gallery.

Image: Inuti, studio 1

Posted on 7th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Exhibitions  News  Trongate 103 

Stirling Books Pop-Up Shop will stay until the end of Collected

The folks at Stirling Books have agreed to stock a bookcase full of quality second hand books until the end of Collected on the 19th November.

Art, architecture, design, classics, comics, photography - all very reasonably priced and 1/3rd of all sales proceeds is donated to Project Ability.

Come in and shop for unusual and affordable Christmas presents and know you are giving to a good cause.

Posted on 7th November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News 

Young Carers Workshops

To celebrate the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival Project Ability hosted three workshops for Young Carers groups in Glasgow.

Participants got the chance to try their hand at building a ceramic mug, decorating their own canvas bags and creating beautiful hand crafted books.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the workshops and some of their amazing work can be seen here.

Posted on 1st November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News  Workshops 

Project Ability and Outside In are partners

Project Ability and Outside In are partners and Project Ability will curate an Outside In Scotland exhibition in 2013.

 Outside In aims to provide a platform for artists who find it difficult to access the art world either because of mental health issues, disability, health, social circumstance.

Create yourself an online gallery now and you can choose to submit two pieces of art to go forward for selection for the Outside In: National to be held at Pallant House Gallery from October 2012 to February 2013. There will be further regional exhibitions in 2013, including one at Project Ability, Glasgow.

For more information see the website http://www.outsidein.org.uk or call Jennifer on 07735568531.

Image: Peter Andrews, My Interpretation

Posted on 1st November 2011 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Exhibitions  News