SHORT PORTRAITARTplus – Artistic training and qualification for creatives with disabilities by EUCREA Verband Kunst und Behinderung e.V.
In four German states (Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia) the ARTplus program enables artistically gifted people with disabilities to receive professional training at participating academies of theater, art, and music. To this day, self-employed creative people with disabilities who are independent of the aid system represent a peripheral phenomenon in the German cultural landscape. With its three-year model project, EUCREA e.V. aims to close that gap. New models are being tested in conjunction with partners and participants in order to explore new levels of artistic education. This program will be accompanied by a documentary film. There will also be informational events to attract more people and a broader public for the long-term goal of enabling inclusion in (arts) education through the right kinds of structures.
“Unpretentious, and therefore all the more valuable: ARTplus sets its sights on the structures found in professional artistic education in order to enable fundamental inclusion in art and culture. There is an urgent need for talented people with disabilities to have the chance to realize their professional aspiration of becoming an ‘artist’, irrespective of the level of support and potential found in their personal environment. This is a project that provides strength and hope, taking a stand for change in order to make a more open and diverse art world possible.“, says the jury.
3 new questions to… Jutta Schubert, Management team EUCREA e.V.
We are currently cooperating with 16 educational and cultural partners. In addition to the federal states of Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin has now joined the programme. Since September 2022, four people with learning difficulties have been studying full-time at HKS Ottersberg for the first time. In the meantime, 24 students with various disabilities are taking part in the ARTplus programme.
Starting ARTplus 2021 was extraordinarily difficult: we were in the middle of the pandemic. The award has motivated us to continue on our chosen path. With the prize money, we can improve public relations and make the programme more visible.
This year we are working on the publication and dissemination of the first results. In the pilot phase, we were able to gather essential experience on how inclusive, assisted study in the arts can become possible. From 2024, we want to use the experience gained to permanently establish inclusive arts education in the participating federal states with our partners. And this also includes developing perspectives for later professional activity for the students.
3 questions to… Jutta Schubert, Management team EUCREA e.V.
With ARTplus, EUCREA is pursuing the goal of enabling artists with disabilities to obtain access to high education in the arts.
To improve public relations, including film documentaries and informational events for a variety of target groups.
…that the cultural landscape be enriched by creative people with disabilities, and that these individuals be able to receive artistic training and qualifications.