In today’s Meet the Volunteers, we would like to introduce you to the fantastic Louis Nye, who has been a great addition to our Aspire Monday workshops.
Are you a graduate or undergraduate artist? Can you tell us what course you are on, or a little about your art practice?
I’m in my final year at Glasgow School of Art studying for a BA in Painting and Printmaking. My practice mainly consists of painting and weaving.
In what workshop did you volunteer?
In the Monday morning Aspire class.
Why did you apply to volunteer at Project Ability?
I wanted to gain confidence and experience working with people with learning disabilities. I graduate soon and I’d like to continue working in art classes with organisations such as Project Ability. Project Ability seemed like a great community to get involved with and a way to meet new artists outside of my uni. I wanted to apply some of the skills I’ve learnt over the past 4 years studying and share them in a community that makes art more accessible.
Did your experience live up to your expectations?
Absolutely, it’s a really energising, creative environment and I always looked forward to my Monday mornings.
What have you learned from your experience with us?
I quickly became more confident suggesting processes to artists in the class, given each person works in a different way and at a different pace. I learnt to judge when artists needed assistance and when not to interfere with their creative processes. I also learnt ways to gear my existing practical knowledge towards artists with learning disabilities. Project Ability has some great resources that I hadn’t encountered before like silk painting and ceramics that I got to learn through working with the Aspire artists.
Do you have a favourite Project Ability artist or artwork that has stood out for you?
I had a lot of fun working with Michael, he does fantastic line drawings of figures. It’s amazing seeing how the image translates from the picture he’s working from to the drawing on the page, I’d recommend checking out his artist profile on the Project Ability website. And I loved getting to know Patsy and receiving my weekly Celtic updates from her.
Would you recommend others to volunteer with us?
Definitely, the studios are refreshing and well equipped so it’s a great opportunity to learn some new skills and meet some great people!
Thanks Louis! If, like Louis, you would like to volunteer at Project Ability, we are accepting applications until the 6th January.
