Arts organisations and services

This page contains information relating primarily to artist support, opportunities and organisations in London and across the UK. We have tried our best to lay out the information available in a convenient and efficient manner, but we always welcome feedback and additions to our resources. Please contact [email protected] with any contributions.

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Getting support, joining a new network and learning something new can be hard daunting. We have tried to collate information on this page that might make that process easier for disabled artists seeking useful organisations in London and across the UK. However, we can only guarantee that information on this page is accurate at the time it was updated, and not beyond. We endeavour to thoroughly check the validity of third party information we signpost, but occasionally providers elect not to disclose some requirements before enquiries are made by artists.

How to navigate this page

This page is divided into three sections.

Table displaying the areas or work organisations operate in. Clicking on an organisation's name in this table will take you to the relevant information we have been able to gather about the service further down the page
Further information about each organisation, including any available accessibility notes. Click the pink heading title to visit the organisation's external website
Links to external directories and resources relating to finding support and guidance as an artist in London and beyond

What support are you looking for?

Organisation / Service	Artist Support	Opportunities	Artist Network	Classes / Sessions / Courses	Jobs / Training
A-N The Artists Information Company	✓	✓	✓		✓
ActionSpace	✓	✓	✓
All Sorts	✓	✓	✓	✓
Amici Dance Theatre Company		✓	✓	✓
Artists Access 2 Art Colleges				✓
Artbox London	✓		✓	✓
Art House Meath	✓			✓
Arts and Disability	✓	✓	✓
Arts Emergency	✓	✓		✓	✓
Arts Job Finder					✓
Art Quest	✓	✓	✓
Bow Arts	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Bubble Club				✓
Carousel	✓	✓		✓	✓
Chickenshed		✓	✓	✓	✓
Clean Break				✓
Corali	✓	✓		✓
Core Arts	✓			✓	✓
Creative Access		✓			✓
Creative Future	✓	✓		✓
CVAN	✓	✓	✓
DASH	✓	✓	✓
Disability Arts Online	✓	✓	✓
Drake Music	✓	✓		✓	✓
Entelechy Arts	✓	✓	✓	✓
Face Front				✓	✓
Graeae Theatre	✓	✓		✓
Half Moon Young People's Theatre				✓
Heart n Soul	✓		✓	✓
Midi Music Company				✓	✓
Outside In	✓	✓	✓		✓
Project Ability	✓	✓	✓	✓
Q-Art				✓
Rocket Artists	✓			✓
Spread The Word	✓	✓		✓
Stopgap Dance		✓		✓	✓
Studio Upstairs	✓	✓		✓
The Literary Consultancy	✓	✓		✓
The Film Bunch			✓	✓
Turtle Key Arts		✓	✓	✓
Submit To Love Studio	✓			✓
VisABLE Actors' Agency		✓	✓		✓

A-N The Artists Information Company
Whether it’s finding a job, gaining professional development, making use of insurance, campaigning to improve your profession or making contact with like-minded folk – a-n membership opens up a range of brilliant benefits for artists, arts professionals and students.

ActionSpace
We support the development of artists with learning disabilities in a professional studio environment and creates innovative projects for people with learning disabilities to engage with the visual arts.

All Sorts
Heart n Soul’s Allsorts is a place where adults with learning disabilities can try new art activities, meet new people and have fun. You can take part in a range of workshops, ranging from music to circus skills in a safe and friendly atmosphere where you decide what to do.

Amici Dance Theatre Company
AMICI is a unique dance theatre company integrating able-bodied & disabled artists and performers. Our productions and workshops challenge conventional attitudes about disability and the arts. AMICI runs regular classes for its members at The Lyric, Hammersmith where we are the resident community arts company. Biannually we produce a full company show performed in the Lyric’s main theatre. AMICI gives open-workshops, residencies, student placements and performances throughout the year.

Artists Access 2 Art Colleges
The AA2A project (Artists Access to Art Colleges) is offering around 50 placements, giving artists and designer makers the opportunity to undertake a period of research or realise a project using art college facilities e.g. workshops, IT facilities, lending library, and lecture programme. AA2A schemes aim to benefit students and institutions through their interaction with practising artists.

Artbox London
Artbox London runs free weekly studio sessions for artists with learning disabilities. These sessions aim to create a supportive, creative and inspiring environment for its artists to create and develop unique artwork using a variety of materials. Artists are empowered to sell their work through Artbox London exhibitions held in professional galleries and corporate spaces. Our vision is a world where everyone is given the opportunity to be creative and reach their full potential through art.

Art House Meath
Showcasing talents and skills of adults living with severe epilepsy, learning and physical difficulties. 100% of sales revenue goes back into the project.

Arts and Disability
Disability arts directory – Ireland

Arts Emergency
From mentoring projects to album launches, The Arts Emergency Service will change the lives of thousands of current and future students. We aim to ensure the doors of the university are kept open for those most able to benefit from, but least able to pay for education.

Arts Job Finder
Arts jobs listings from Arts Professional.

Art Quest
Art Quest provides practical support to visual artists throughout their careers.

Bow Arts
Bow Arts are an arts and education charity and a social enterprise. They work across London, supporting the development of skills, professional networks and careers through their programming and employment opportunities. They look to help artists to work, earn and exhibit, ensuring they have the space, support, and community to develop their career.

They run a variety of events throughout the year, accessibility for each event is listed on their website’s what’s on but any questions can also be raised with their team by email or phone. Contact details can be found on their website.

Bubble Club
Bubble Club is a learning disability arts programme based in Bethnal Green for since 2005. We run creative workshops, podcast sessions and radio shows. Most importantly, we host live music club nights which are safe and accessible for all people (including people without disabilities) The energy is DIY, cheeky, fun, creative and welcoming to all.

Carousel
Carousel works to promote the active involvement of people with a learning disability in the arts, teaching new artistic skills and developing existing talents.

Chickenshed
Chickenshed is an inclusive theatre company that first began in 1974. Primarily based at our own purpose-built venue in North London, we create theatre for all ages and run successful outreach projects, education courses and membership programmes throughout the year.

Clean Break
Clean Break is a theatre company set up in 1979 by two women prisoners who believed that theatre changes lives. Clean Break has a long-established theatre-based education and training programme enabling women offenders and those at risk of offending to develop personal, social, professional and creative skills - leading to education and employment.

Corali
Performing Arts for people with learning disabilities. Corali is a committed group of people made up of performers with learning disabilities and artist collaborators and educationalists who do not. Corali exists to explore the unique creativity and expression of people with learning disabilities by putting on original performance works and by offering on-going professional development, education and training opportunities.

Core Arts
Core Arts is a registered charity that exists to promote the artistic and creative abilities of people who experience severe and enduring mental health issues.

Creative Access
Advertising - Film - Journalism - Marketing - Music - PR - Publishing - Talent - Television – Theatre
Media cannot reflect society, if society is not reflected in the media. Creative Access is looking for talented young people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to fill paid internship places at many of the UK’s top media organisations.

Creative Future
Empowering marginalised artists and writers.

CVAN
Contemporary Visual Arts Network - excellent links to a variety of artist resources, including toolkits and fees guidance

DASH
Disability led visual arts organisation based in Shropshire

Disability Arts Online
Delivers editorial about disability arts and culture and offers a blogging platform for disabled artists, as well as commissioning opportunities and support. DAO provides resources for both individuals and the sector, including jobs and events listings, a directory of artists and organisations, and research. Central to DAO is its lively community of discussion and debate around disability arts and culture.

Drake Music
Drake Music breaks down disabling barriers to music through innovative approaches to learning, teaching and making music. Our focus is on nurturing creativity through exploring music and technology in imaginative ways. We put quality music-making at the heart of everything we do, connecting disabled and non-disabled people locally, nationally and internationally.

Entelechy Arts
We believe in the creative power of the individual, and that everyone should have the opportunity to contribute to the creative life of their local community. This richness in sharing stories and experiences of those who can often feel underrepresented, encourages stronger communities, changes perceptions, and ultimately helps people live healthier, happier and more connected lives.

Face Front
Face Front Inclusive Theatre creates original, ground-breaking Inclusive Theatre with a company of disabled and nondisabled artists. The company produces professional, entertaining and challenging multi-layered theatre, through its Theatre in Schools, Participation and Theatre programmes. Performances and workshops are carefully crafted to be accessible to all, including people with physical, sensory and learning impairments, which take place in regional theatres, schools and a variety of venues.

Graeae Theatre
Graeae theatre is a force for change in world-class theatre, breaking down barriers, challenging preconceptions and boldly placing disabled artists centre stage. Graeae champions accessibility and provides a platform for new generations of Deaf and disabled talent through the creation of trail-blazing theatre, at home and internationally

Half Moon Young People's Theatre
The Half Moon's inclusive policy places particular emphasis on engaging those often excluded by ethnicity and disabilities. Their broad participatory programme, which goes out to youth theatres and schools, is a vital extension of this. Within their East End hub, two studios provide a calendar of performance for children aged from six months, while kids can join one of a range of youth theatre groups.

Heart n Soul
Heart n Soul is an award-winning creative arts company and charity. We believe in the power and talents of people with learning disabilities, providing opportunities for people to discover, develop and share this power and talent as widely as possible. We also have a lot of fun!

Midi Music Company
We provide a space for all children and young people to be inspired and get into music and the creative industries. We do this through programmes such as affordable music classes for children and career development for emerging artists to help them make their way in the music industry.

Outside In
For artists who find it difficult to access the art world because of disability, health, social circumstance or because their work does not conform to what is normally considered as art.

Project Ability
Development arts organisation promoting the importance of the arts to disabled individuals

Q-Art
We are organisation for current and prospective students, graduates, self-trained artists and all those with an interest in art. We aim to break down the barriers to art education and the contemporary art world and support the networking and development of early career artists. We run open crits, workshops, and produce books and videos.

Rocket Artists
Learning Disability Visual Arts (Brighton)

Spread the Word
“Looking out for London’s writers". We provide high quality, low cost opportunities for writers to improve their craft and develop their careers. We identify and support talented writers from a diversity of backgrounds and we encourage as many people as possible to try creative writing as a means of self-expression.

Stopgap Dance
Stopgap Dance Company seamlessly integrates dancers with and without disabilities. We are experts of inclusive choreography and have extensive experience of nurturing disabled and non-disabled artists for making inclusive works.

Studio Upstairs
Our mission is to provide holistic support to people who are experiencing enduring mental or emotional difficulties so that they can re-create their reasons and purpose for living, find new ways to live and experience a better quality of life. The ambition of the charity is to create a network of sustainable, safe, local studios available to all who need them, as and when they need them.

Submit To Love Studio
Submit To Love Studio is home to a group of artists living with brain injury. Discovery through art is our mission.

The Literary Consultancy
The UK's leading manuscript assessment and editorial advice service. TLC also runs a busy programme of literary events, writing workshops and holidays, and manages The Free Read Scheme with support from Arts Council England.

The Film Bunch
At The Film Bunch, we showcase short films from upcoming filmmakers from around the world. Our mission is to improve access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to mainstream short films, so we provide subtitles, British Sign Language interpreters and live captioning at our events

Turtle Key Arts
Turtle Key Arts produces and devises original ground-breaking art to entertain and inspire. We believe that access to the arts helps to improve the quality of life by bringing people together, offering creative opportunities, social inter-action, confidence and self-esteem.

VisABLE actors’ agency
VisABLE is the world's first initiative to create mainstream professional opportunities for actors, presenters & models with disabilities. The result of this is a completely new market which puts disabled artists into the media focus.

Directories and further resources

A-N The Artist's Information Company DASH Artquest Primer

Explore all of our resources

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