Earlier in 2023 elysium gallery was awarded an Arts Council of Wales Connect and Flourish Grant for our Creative Neurodivergent Networks pilot project. Creative Neurodivergent Networks is a supportive creative platform for the wider neurodivergent (ND) community, positioned within the heart of
contemporary art organisations in Swansea.
Working with ND artists and groups as creative leads; throughout 2023/2024 elysium gallery, Taliesin, ASDES and Shine Cymru will facilitate a series of workshops and networking activities for ND participants to develop their own creative projects and new skills.
The first part of the project will involve a series of taster workshops by lead artists assisted by ND artists exploring different mediums such as Street art and graffite, Interactive sound collage, animation, film-making, drama and performance, painting and costume making.
Workshop participants are members of ASDES, shine Cymru and Gower College. Along with the ND artists they will all decide which direction the project goes in 2024.
Key aspects of this project are that ND participants are at the centre of decision making about what we all do together; and that we ALL learn, grow and develop as the project progresses.
We want to achieve a longer term increased understanding of artists for working with ND people; increased community connections; more scope for artists to take on further work with the skills and
experience they have gained; and for partner orgs to have a better understanding of each other and
what they each offer, as well as better understanding of ND people, which will increase accessibility for
ND people and allow for them to take a central part in the creative
community.
We will be posting updates on this exciting project on our social media channels throughout the year and will be presenting a film about the creative neurodivergent networks activities later in 2024.
A huge thank you to our funders the Arts council of Wales and our partners ASDES, Gower College, Shine Cymru and Taliesin arts Centre,