Guest Blog: Charlotte Cunningham On Access To The Arts

Turtle Key Arts prides itself on being about access to the arts. This was one of the founding principles of our organisation, and the way that we deliver on this aim is constantly reassessed.

When Turtle Key Arts first opened as a performance space in 1989 it was primarily about physical access to buildings for wheelchair users or hearing loops or signed and audio described performances - all things not readily available in performance venues at the time.

It's been wonderful to watch the landscape changing since then, and we are really proud to have played a tiny part in that. The opening ceremony of the Paralympics was a testament to all of the disabled artists that have struggled to make their voices heard; it was a very public way to see how much things have changed. Let's hope we keep moving forward in this way - though unfortunately it isn't always the case in recent years.

We still think about physical access in all of our work, supported by our long-serving disability advisor, however we also feel that access is a wider concept, not just about the physical barriers. Once you start thinking in this way, you realise that access is also difficult for people who have geographical barriers through living in places where arts are not provided; for communities that are hard to reach because of differences in culture or language; and for those who simply feel that the arts are not aimed at them.

There are also the groups that people shy away from because they are harder to engage - in our case this includes children and young people with autism, people with dementia, young people with HIV and interfaith and intercultural projects.

It is also interesting that in this age of mass communication, it seems even harder for the most disadvantaged to feel that arts activities are for them, and communication can be one of these new barriers.

Often the groups we work with stumble at the first hurdle of contemporary access. They may not operate online and may feel alienated by faceless emails if they do receive them - this is particularly true for the older participants with dementia, but also so for those whose communication is different (ASD), for those who are scared of stigma (HIV) and even for those who are simply inundated by 'offers'.

The only way around this is often to go back to the very basics of communication and go and speak to people directly. We find ourselves in day centres and hospitals, in special schools and in mainstream schools, with partner charities and at conferences, meeting people and telling them about the benefits of arts-based interventions.

We also try to make our online communications as people friendly as possible - our month in a minute film is a great example of this since people can see my colleague Shaun showing them the leaflets and telling them about all that is available in a friendly, fast and very accessible way.

Another less obvious barrier for people is the cost of the arts. All of our outreach projects are free to participants and although this is increasingly hard to sustain, we really believe that it is the right approach. We also try to keep our ticket prices within a reasonable range and to organise deals for groups or individuals who might not otherwise be able to attend.

Access also informs our choice of collaborating companies and projects. We ascertain whether our involvement will really make a difference to the careers of those artists - can we help them overcome some of the very real barriers into this profession.

We take on interns and support them in finding jobs, we meet with many young companies who we aren't always able to work with full time so try to give them advice and confidence to continue their projects. We introduce people to each other to ensure that more good work can be carried out by our partners, our collaborators and most importantly our participants.

There is a wonderful cartoon that we use in our Autism training session that talks about equality versus equity, and I feel that it is the perfect representation of how we try to think about all the work that we do. I am pleased that the aims around access that we identified so many years ago can still guide us towards these ideals, and that we can still make them truly relevant.

Turtle Key Arts are producers of emerging performing arts companies and designers of new and innovative outreach projects using the arts. We currently have eight collaborating companies: Ockham's Razor, Joli Vyann, AIK Productions, RedCape Theatre, Oddly Moving, Open Sky, Slot Machine Theatre and Amici Dance Theatre Company. Our outreach projects include partnerships with English Touring Opera, Royal College of Music, National Portrait Gallery, Wigmore Hall and the Universities of Oxford, Reading, Wolverhampton and York.

Photo credit: Mark Dawson Photography, Moving Productions

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