DISABILITY AND INTEGRATED PARTICIPATION PROJECTS
TURTLE KEY ARTS WAS FOUNDED IN 1989 AS AN ACCESSIBLE SPACE FOR AUDIENCES AND DISABLED PERFORMERS COMBINING EDUCATION AND DISABILITY ARTS WORK WITH MAINSTREAM PERFORMANCE. ACCESSIBILITY AND INTEGRATION HAS BEEN AT THE HEART OF THE COMPANY EVER SINCE.
Since becoming a Production Company in 1999 Turtle Key Arts has produced and managed many participation projects for people with mixed disabilities.
PLANET X (2007-2010)
WESTSIDERS (2004-2006)
ARTS ACTIVE (2004)
KEY MOVES (2003 & 2004)
TURTLE KEY ARTS APPRENTICE SCHEME (1996-2002)
VISUALISE (2001-2002)
PLANET X (2007-2010) Planet X, a partnership with Paddington Arts , was a fun tactile environment created to stimulate the senses of young disabled people through sound, light, colour and texture - a unique walk-in sensory installation space with many different areas to explore themed upon space travel and strange planets and with trained co-ordinators to encourage the participants around the space helping to enhance the experience.
WESTSIDERS (2004-2006) Westsiders, a partnership with Paddington Arts, was a quarterly club night and social event run by people with learning difficulties for people with learning difficulties. The evenings were attended on average by 100 18 – 30 year olds and included D.J.’s, an open mike session and refreshments.
ARTS ACTIVE (2004) A week of music and drama workshops for integrated groups (learning difficulties and able bodied) of 5-8 year olds and 9-13 year olds held during half-term at Gibbs Green School , West Kensington. Each group gave a short performance at the end of the week for friends and family.
KEY MOVES (2003 & 2004) A week of free drama & performance workshops for young blind and visually impaired people devised by Turtle Key Arts and run in partnership with Extant (the UK’s only blind and visually impaired theatre company) and Sadler’s Wells. Extant have developed working methods that help break down the barriers which can affect blind actors engaging in theatre. During the week Extant passed on these skills to a group of 14-18 year-olds and worked with them to create a short presentation to an invited audience.
TURTLE KEY ARTS APPRENTICE SCHEME (1996-2002) Between 1996 and 2002 Turtle Key Arts ran a young disabled people's apprenticeship programme. Each programme ran for six months and offered the opportunity for young disabled graduates to gain specialist work experience in specific aspects of performance arts. Turtle Key Arts devised the apprenticeship scheme and developed the programme format until in 2002 they were able to hand over the running of the scheme to the UK government's Department for Education and Skills.
VISUALISE (2001-2002) Visualise was a free video art project run by Turtle Key Arts and the Serpentine Gallery for deaf and hearing impaired young people, aged 16 – 26 years. The results of Visualise were exhibited in the Serpentine Gallery education space. Visualise gave the young people, most with no experience or previous knowledge of video, the opportunity to experiment with video and to make their own creative work.