SESSION 1
PANEL DISCUSSION
Friday 2 July, 11.30am - 1.30pm - Online
Access Coventry is a series of online training sessions targeted at professional artists and the small-scale independent arts sector based in Coventry and Warwickshire.
These training sessions are aimed at equipping artists with knowledge and practical strategies to provide for different audiences with different access needs.
In this first session our panel will discuss some of the barriers to making art more accessible and what meaningful action we can take to provide for audiences with access requirements.
Keynote speakers include:
Gideon Feldman - Attitude Is Everything
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Attitude is Everything improves Deaf and disabled people's access to live music by working in partnership with audiences, artists and the music industry.
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Gideon Feldman is Attitude Is Everything’s Head of Programme.
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Amerah Saleh - Beatfreeks
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A spoken word artist, workshop facilitator, project coordinator and outspoken human rights supporter.
Amerah is also the General Manager of Beatfreeks who are an engagement and insight agency with a vital community of young creatives. They are invested in young people getting their share of power.
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Lee Bettles - EGO Performance
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EGO provides high quality theatre workshops for people of all ages & abilities, producing original productions for audiences to enjoy!
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Lee is a member of EGO Performance and sits on the organisations board of trustees.
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Rachel Gildea - BLINK Dance Theatre
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BLINK are a group of neurodiverse artists who collaborate with equal voice to create radical and socially engaged interdisciplinary work. Their inclusive arts practice and participatory projects are accessible to everyone specialising in profound and multiple learning disability (PMLD) and autism.
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Rachel is a Co-Director at BLINK and as well as teaching and performing with and for neurodiverse people she also works as BLINK Dance Theatre’s Development Manager.
Our speakers will be sharing their knowledge and experiences of common barriers audiences from lower economic backgrounds may encounter and how they are working towards overcoming these. At the end of the session, you will gain an understanding of good practice and identify some simple steps to take to make your events more accessible.
Each training session is designed to help you up-skill and increase your understanding of the experiences or access needs of audiences. To get the most out of this course we encourage you to attend as many of the events as you can.
Access Coventry is the first step of many on our citywide journey of creating a manifesto aimed at making Coventry a more accessible place to experience culture.