High Peak Community Arts

Youth and Community Arts for the High Peak

Space to Explore is our new project for neurodivergent people, funded by the National Lottery. Since being awarded the funding in late 2023 we have worked with the steering group, and our freelance workers Helen Robson (Autistic UK) and Elinor Coakley (formerly a Kickstart trainee) to design the ideal workshop environment and content for anyone diagnosed or self-diagnosed with autism, ADHD, dyspraxia and any other neurodivergence.
We hold workshops in a variety of art forms, in which participants can use creativity to explore their neurodivergent identity, have fun, relax and make friends.

Photography

In the Spring, and luckily with sunny days, the Space to Explore group had a series of photography workshops with artist Mark Turton. With ‘attention to detail’ as our theme, participants explored the gardens and surrounds of St. Matthew’s Church and took lots of lovely photographs- including many of the beautiful flowers. Some people then enjoyed editing their photos – others just enjoyed taking photos and then looking at each other’s pictures projected onto the wall, analysing what worked well with the different shots and choosing favourites. Several people created postcard designs from a collection of their images. We are going to use these by writing useful information about different aspects of neurodivergence on the back, and having some sets printed to distribute. Watch this space!

Creative Writing and Shadow Puppets

As a way of celebrating and enjoying participants’ special interests – including trains, ships, planes, Berlin, dragons, dogs, otters, octopi, penguins and planets – participants worked with artist Gordon MacClellan to create a splendid array of shadow puppets which we then wove into fun stories in our final session before the summer break.

Space to Explore – we have a zine for you!

We are proud to present our first piece of work from the Space to Explore project, a meeting point for neurodivergent people.  This Zine – “a Safe Space – to free your mind” came from workshops with autistic artist Charlie Collins, with Helen Robson leading on the theme of feeling safe. We want to display the zine around the High Peak and beyond, so if you have ideas for where it could go, get in touch!

 

The first term of the project worked with autistic artist, Charlie Collins who runs Derbyshire Zine Library and co-leads Milestone Studios in New Mills.  The theme, led by Helen, was ‘feeling safe’ and the environments and adjustments people need to feel safe.  There were group mind maps and each person designed a page to go into the group zine, ‘Safe Space – to free your mind’. We also had debates about language – for example some like to use the term ‘neuro-spicey’ and others find it uncomfortable or disrespectful.

Group member, Jessica laid out the back page and designed a spaceman logo from other people’s ideas.  Jessica and Helen, another member, made their own zines as well, using content from their special interest areas. The group zine will be printed to be able to share and display around the High Peak and beyond!

We also collected further ideas on artforms, and we are now working with filmmaker, Mark Turton in photography and digital editing, and booked Gordon McClellan for creative writing from June. We look forward to sharing more of their work!