A GLASGOW art project which provided a lockdown lifeline for more than 100 people with disabilities and mental health issues has been celebrated in a new campaign.
Project Ability has been unable to run its usual programme of visual art workshops at its Trongate HQ since the start of the pandemic – so the team stepped up to the challenge and came up with new ways to support vulnerable people.
Director Elisabeth Gibson explains that weekly video conferencing, e-mailing, telephone calls and even a postal art challenge helped the organisation connect with city artists.
She said: “Many of our participants are experiencing extreme distress.
“Learning disabled people have reduced support and with many living alone, they are experiencing increased social isolation which is compounded by digital exclusion.”
The charity’s inspiring story has been included in Scottish Contemporary Art Network’s campaign, Keep Art in Action.
Elisabeth added: “Learning disabled people are among the most disadvantaged people in our community; they are the most likely not to have internet access, mobile phones, tablets or computers. People with mental ill health are reporting increased social isolation, lethargy, anxiety and depression.
“People are also coping with loss; family members, friends and housemates have died of Covid 19.”
With support from the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 wellbeing fund, Project Ability delivered materials to artists’ homes and shared tutorials on social media and with schools and community groups.
Tutors also delivered weekly sessions in learning disability inpatient units and to teenagers at an adolescent psychiatric unit, and contributed towards AARG, a collective of autistic artists.
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