Borough of Telford & Wrekin

Arty Party

Difference is a virtue

Arty Party
an example of user-led radical arts practice

Arty Party is a user-led arts group of adults and young people with learning disabilities. Formed in the year 2000 with the support of the Arts Team at Telford & Wrekin. The 65-strong group are led by a core committee of 12 artists, all of whom are learning disabled.

What makes the group unique is its commitment to accessibility. Arty Party provides creative opportunities to people across the board, whether they have mild, moderate or profound learning disabilities.

Arty Party has a track record of delivering unusual, challenging, and ambitious arts projects which confound expectations.

Involvement in the project has led to increased confidence, autonomy and independence of individuals.

Arty Party develops people with learning disabilities as artists, encouraging them to make decisions, be productive, and engage with wider society.

The project is supported strategically and administratively by the Arts team at Telford & Wrekin Council.



Recent developments

A performance group of 10 adults was formed in July 2006 and this group has met every Thursday at Stirchley Church Hall. They have made a film called 'I Saw a Girl' which was based on the experience and personality of one of our core artists, Michael. The film has been shown at a couple of conferences to universal acclaim. We have shown films at the Borderlines film festival in Hereford on two occasions.

Arty Party has recently been successful at obtaining lottery funding for a reaching communities project called Work + Play for the next three years. The Arty Party group is currently working towards obtaining independence as an Arts Organisation through the development of its steering group.

For further information contact the Arts & Disability Co-ordinator on 01952 382365



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Please note - Some documents published before 1st December 2006 may contain incorrect contact numbers.
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For up to date contact numbers please refer to the Guide to Council Services.