First Light Film Screening at GFT

We are very pleased to announce that the four comedy-shorts funded by First Light and written, directed and produced by young people with disabilities aged 14-25yrs will be screened at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Saturday 10 March at 12pm, until 12.30pm.

The four short films are:

• An Important Documentary
• Neds on a Train
• The Empty
• Wizzy and Friends: a Typical Summers Day

There will also be a screening of work produced during our Introduction to Film Workshops by young participants aged 6-12yrs.

Free entry. Please make sure to arrive early as the screening will start at 12pm.

GFT, 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB

Supported by the Lottery through the BFI’s First Light initiative

Posted on 29th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Film & Animation  News 

‘Remembering Lennox Castle Hospital’ launched on Friday 24 February

On the 24th February 2012 over fifty people attended the launch of the project “Remembering Lennox Castle Hospital” at Project Ability’s premises at Trongate 103.

Remembering Lennox Castle Hospital is a project funded by the Heritage Lottery to give ex-residents and staff an opportunity to tell their stories about life in the “Castle” in their own words.

Everyone who attended was incredibly open, honest and generous with their memories. Many people had lived in the Castle for over twenty years, some for far longer, and time was spent remembering the good and the bad aspects of life in the Castle. People enjoyed the camaraderie amongst the residents and staff and enjoyed outings and dances and cinema evenings but there was also a shared sense that people were not treated as individuals, that there was very little privacy and people did not feel safe.

There was a collective feeling of being hidden away. This project gives people a voice and an opportunity to share their stories and celebrate their achievements.

The project continues with a first series of workshops, taking place in March.

Posted on 28th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News 

You can now sponsor John’s run via text!

Our tutor John is currently training hard for his run in the Mighty Deerstalker race! His aim is to raise at least £300 for Project Ability, and thanks to your very generous donations, he has already raised £60.

Now it's even easier to sponsor him: all you have to do is text FITZ12 £10 (or £1/2/3/4 or £5) to 70070. You can also help by donating online here, or by handing cash or a cheque at the reception on the 3rd floor of Trongate 103.

Posted on 28th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Fundraising  News 

Only a few days left to apply to our Residency Scheme 2012

The deadline for applications to our Residency Scheme 2012 is fast approaching! Project Ability is offering six Glasgow based visual artists the opportunity to apply for a one month residency in our studios in Trongate 103. Our workshop is fully accessible and applications are particularly welcomed from artists who have a disability. The successful artists will have access to workshop space and production facilities five days a week (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) for a full calendar month.

Please click here for more information on how to apply. Deadline: Friday 02 March 2012.

Posted on 27th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News 

Our Gallery and Exhibition programme has received a 3 year grant from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation

We are delighted to announce that our Gallery and Exhibition programme has received a huge boost in the shape of a three year grant from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

This funding will help us to create more opportunities to exhibit work by artists with learning disabilities and others who find it difficult to access the art world and help us reach out to new audiences.

Posted on 22nd February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Fundraising  News 

Meet the Volunteers: Fiona Byrne Sutton

The new block of our volunteering programme started a few weeks ago, and our volunteers are already proving invaluable! Want to know a bit more about them? This week, let's meet Fiona Byrne Sutton.

Fiona graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2008 with a BA(hons) in Ceramic Design. Since graduating she has continued to develop her own studio practices, working specifically with coloured clays, particularly black as she enjoys the challenges of producing work with this colour.

As part of her process she digs her own clay, sourcing it from her own flower beds in Glasgow and across the central belt of Scotland. Theses clay fire in hues of orange and Fiona also embeds local plants and flowers into the pieces she creates. She believes this gives her work a sense of place and therefore describes her work as ‘Folk Art’ because the narrative in her work comes from the location.

As well as her own practice, Fiona has worked with a number of diverse groups. She worked in Clackmannanshire in a rural setting encouraging adults and children of all abilities to source their own clay. Fiona has also worked with Artlink Central and a number of local schools. She is currently the exhibitions co-ordinator for the Scottish Potters Association.

We are delighted to have Fiona volunteering with us. She is stationed in our ceramic room on Wednesdays, supporting our participants from across the Aspire and Connect programme to create in clay.

Posted on 22nd February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News  Recruitment & Volunteering 

Sponsor John and help him reach his target of £300!

After last year's success in raising funds for Project Ability, Tutor John Fitzpatrick will once again be running the Mighty Deerstalker with a few friends on the night of the 17th of March.

The Mighty Deerstalker is a 10K turbo-charged roller coaster of a run. It's fun, it's fast, it's action-packed and it's as tough as you can bear (and it's at night!). The onus is on fun but this is also a serious challenge, involving off-road terrain, steep gradients and exciting obstacles.

Last year John managed to beat his target by quite a significant margin, and hopes to do the same this year with a new target of £300! You can help him do that by sponsoring him here, or by handing a cheque or cash at the reception on the 3rd floor.

Thank you!

Posted on 21st February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Fundraising  News 

Leverndale and Rowanbank Hospitals workshops

Since April 2011, artist Susan Bryson has been working with patients at Leverndale and Rowanbank Hospitals. With funding from the Lankelly Chase Foundation we have developed a programme of weekly art workshops which will continue through to 2013.

Susan has introduced a wide range of processes including block printing, mono printing, batik, watercolour and ink painting and as the project has progressed patients have gained confidence in using the materials and developing their ideas. Staff have also joined in and are learning as much as the patients as well as contributing plenty of conversation and encouraging people to try different approaches.

“I was very proud of doing different things like birds and animals and getting it done and seeing other people doing things. I was proud of what I’d done. I had never used the inks and prints before.” (patient)

“I felt safe even though I was meeting new people. I felt happy in the group, we were all talking and we were cheerful. We didn’t get embarrassed with each other. The most important thing is to trust each other in a group.” (patient)

“We wish the group hadn’t finished and it was more of a regular activity if offered we would appreciate another chance to take part.” (patient)

The workshops have taken people away from their usual routine and provided a regular, safe, creative activity where people have felt their work has been valued. A selection of this work will be exhibited in Project Ability’s gallery from the 29th September to the 13th October 2012.

Posted on 20th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  Exhibitions  News  Workshops 

Artist Robert Reddick sadly passed away peacefully in January 2012.

Robert Reddick, one of the more senior artists at Project Ability, has drawn and created his whole life. His family remember him from an early age as constantly producing work and being enthralled with the results but it wasn’t until ten years ago when he was in his 70’s and started attending classes at Project Ability that his work became more widely seen and enjoyed by bigger audiences.

Robert was a thoroughly good artist with a prodigious output which belied his advanced years. His distinctive shaky lines had an eloquent fluidity over which he had precise control. He worked at great speed his line revealing and rearranging forms and shapes. His characteristic understanding of structure, as he filled sheet after sheet with crowded lines, could almost obscure the detail of the composition until he pulled it back to order and the form surfaced. At other times his line was sparse and elegantly positioned within an empty space.

Robert contributed to many exhibitions. Highlights include his first solo exhibition at Project Ability in 2006. “Recalling Lines” Robert’s second solo show took place in 2010 in Project Ability’s Gallery in Trongate 103. In 2009 his work was selected for the 2009 “Outsider Art” biennale in Sweden. In January 2010 he showed work in the Collins Gallery as part of the international exhibition Myscape. In November 2010 Robert had two drawings selected for the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition.

Robert a kind, gentle, hardworking man had an enormous talent for drawing. His family were immensely proud of him and so pleased that in his later years people could see and enjoy his work. We will remember Roberts’ quiet determination, his love of all things Scottish from Robert Burns to the Broons, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, trams, Scottish Castles and ancient monuments; his strength and singular determination to capture his surroundings and record his memories in pen and ink.

His work will be seen in the forthcoming exhibition “The Highway Code” at Project Ability’s gallery in Trongate 103 from the 1st March to the 14th April 2012.

Posted on 20th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Artists  News 

First Light Film Workshops

The First Light Film Workshops are in their fourth week now, and both groups seem to be having a great time!

The young filmmakers have been storyboarding, making props and animation drawings, and already started filming their comedy shorts.

The four films they are working on are:

• The Empty, a comical yet cautionary tale of a house party gone wrong.
• Disability - Media Portrayal, a witty mockumentary style film which explores the media portrayal of disability.
• Wizzy's Adventures, another exciting chapter in the Adventures of Wizzy the Wizard and friends.
• Re-animate, a film exploring key environmental issues through models and sets created form recycled materials.

Keep an eye on the website for more photos and more updates!

Posted on 8th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: Film & Animation  News  Trongate 103  Workshops 

‘Remembering Lennox Castle’: project launch on February 24th

We are very pleased to announce that Project Ability and C-Change have secured funding (£28,600) from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project launching on Friday 24 February 2012 and focussing on the lives and memories of Lennox Castle Hospital ex-residents.

Lennox Castle Hospital on the outskirts of Glasgow, at the foot of the Campsie Fells, closed in 2002. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the closure. After ten short years the story of Lennox Castle Hospital is almost forgotten with members of the public more often than not associating the name with Celtic football club’s training ground rather than a famously large institution which was home to hundreds of people and was a major employer in the local area.

C-Change and Project Ability, two Glasgow-based organisations who work with people with learning disabilities and mental health issues, have successfully applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project that will mark the anniversary of this date.

"Remembering Lennox Castle Hospital" invites ex-residents to tell their story in their own words of their memories of living in the "Castle". It is an oral history and research project where ex-residents are supported to amass and conserve their memories of Lennox Castle Hospital. To increase the scope of the project an invitation will be extended to others who have experience of long stay hospitals including ex residents, staff and family members. Project Ability and C-Change will support people to work individually and collectively to gather personal, factual and historical information about life in Lennox Castle and to present the information using words, images and objects to allow them to share these stories with others.

The project will create opportunities for people to make an individual and collective contribution towards a memory bank of objects, recollections, stories and images. This unique body of work will be contained in a website to be accessed by the participants, their friends, family and supporters and the public.

Elisabeth Gibson, Executive Director of Project Ability said: “Many of our artists lived in Lennox Castle Hospital or in similar kinds of institutions and still have vivid memories. Today it is inconceivable that we would exclude people with learning disabilities from our communities. This project will give people the opportunity to reflect on their experience and the tools to share their stories.”

C-Change’s Marketing and Development Manager, Sheryl Walker said: “This project will be an excellent opportunity to illustrate the captivating stories and memories of those that resided in Lennox Castle. C-Change was founded as result of the hospital’s closure 10 years ago and has supported many ex-residents to positively transform their lives. Many of these individuals had never experienced a life outwith the hospital, but have exceeded expectations by going on to fulfil their right to become full and active citizens of their communities”.

Colin McLean, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland said: “The Remembering Lennox Castle Hospital project will open up an important area of social history to many more people. The past community of Lennox Castle Hospital made an important contribution to shaping the area’s character and now it is all but forgotten. This project will preserve this unique heritage by bringing stories to life, letting everyone get involved and share their past.”

‘Remembering Lennox Castle Hospital’ will launch on Friday 24 February with a Consultation Day in Project Ability, where invited participants will set out and design the project content. The event will be facilitated by consultant David Douglas.

Posted on 7th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News 

2012 Residency Scheme: Call for proposals

Project Ability is offering six Glasgow based visual artists the opportunity to apply for a one month residency in our studios in Trongate 103.

Our workshop is fully accessible and applications are particularly welcomed from artists who have a disability. The successful artists will have access to workshop space and production facilities five days a week (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) for a full calendar month.

This is not private space and you will have the opportunity to interact with Project Ability’s staff, tutors, artists and visitors to the workshop.

“I want a career in community arts, which is why this residency is really interesting: I get to see how the tutors work with the participants, it inspires me for my career.”
-Karly Burns, January 2011

“I haven't painted for some time now because I don't have a studio and I have been working full-time in the voluntary sector. The residency has given me a chance to re-engage with that aspect of my practice.”
-Duncan Wilson, May 2011

A reasonable materials allowance will be made from our stock supply (i.e. paint, canvas, paper, clay) but extra costs will be incurred if for example, you are planning on working extensively in the glass room.

The Residencies will be offered to artists who can successfully demonstrate how they will use the time and resources to develop their artistic practice. This is an opportunity to undertake an intensive period of work, to develop work for an exhibition and / or for your own personal development. You might want to explore new materials or feel a period of concentrated work would be beneficial to you.

You will have the opportunity to submit work to a group exhibition in our gallery in January 2013.

Applications must contain 4 images of your work, preferably emailed or on a disc, an artist statement, a work plan and your preferred calendar month from April 2012 through to September 2012.

Please contact Elisabeth Gibson .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you would like assistance with any aspect of the application process.

Applications must be received by 2nd March 2012. Artists will be notified if they have been awarded a residency by the 16th March. The programme will commence from the 2nd April 2012. There will be six one month residencies in April, May, June, July, August and September.

Applications should be submitted online at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with ‘residency programme’ in the subject bar or mailed to: Project Ability, 3rd floor, Trongate 103, Glasgow, G1 5HD

“After my degree I felt quite disheartened, and I didn’t want to paint because of the pressure I put upon myself. To get self-motivated to make your work and change your mindset after Art School is a learning curve! But this residency is a great way to get back into the work. There are people around you, so you can interact with them, get feedback, but without any pressure. I feel a lot more free!”
-Karly Burns, January 2011.

Posted on 6th February 2012 by PA Editor : permalink
Categories: News