Art makers from Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre, An inclusive Arts Centre in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire UK, visited a beautiful collection of work at the Baltic Art Gallery.

They had the opportunity to investigate and respond to the Project Artworks residency at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, UK.

This had been inspired by attending Project Art works Explorers Event at The Baltic Gateshead on 28-29 November 2023.

Inclusive artists Sharon Hockin and Shaeron Caton-Rose attended the Project Artworks exhibition events and had this to say.

‘The symposium at the Baltic with Project Artworks was hugely important. It told us that we are not alone and helped us to navigate the reasoning behind our process.’

Notes from the symposium:

• We are sharing artwork not showing it
• Ambition is not a dirty word and should be part of our aim. Providing pathways to individual development and feedback to aid artistic progression.
• Archiving and recognising the value of what has been produced is vital.
• Process is vital but product is to be celebrated.
• Recording and noting process is hugely important and also informative (videos of artists working in the studio were as entrancing as the artwork itself at the exhibition).
• Essentials to creativity: Space, materials, resources, community, feedback, freedom to choose materials and resources, 1:1 enablement, artistic progression available for those who are interested.
• An absolute belief that the work finds an audience.
• Support artists to create with studio visits.
• Supported studios: Exhibition is a collective effort, support structures are needed.
• Make the process accessible. Allow for freedom – both through materials used and approach.

Sharon also shared the carefully compiled Cosmology of Care created by Project Artworks CEO and director Kate Adams. I think this is very interesting.

It provides a way of mapping needs that is an alternative to Maslow’s hierarchy.

Oftentimes we don’t achieve the top of the pyramid, especially in spaces where austerity operates, where we we are constantly struggling upon the foundational elements with what is most desirous, dignified and human beyond reach.

Here however I can see a flattening of the hierarchy; a network, and as the title states: a cosmology of a person’s needs.

This article by Disability Arts Online outlines Project Artworks valuable inclusive exhibition by the Hastings based collective.

https://disabilityarts.online/magazine/showcase/project-art-works-residential-at-baltic/

Find out more about Project Artworks:

https://projectartworks.org/

And the Cosmology of Care by Kate Adams: