Watch our Cultural Enrichment Programme here created and edited by Ric Jones.

Making the Case | Symposium

25^th May 2018 | 10am-4pm

The Grand Hall | the Whitworth

Breaking down barriers to cultural and heritage places and spaces for learning disabled people.

Venture Arts invited culture and heritage leaders and representatives to join them as they bring together ten influential organisations and individuals to inspire and share best practice about making our cultural landscape a more rich and welcoming place, with learning disabled people at its heart.

MAKING THE CASE | SYMPOSIUM marked the completion of a successful series of Venture Arts’ Cultural Enrichment Programme created in recognition of how very few learning disabled people access cultural venues. Supported by national lottery players via The Heritage Lottery Funded programme partnered with; Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Museum (The University of Manchester), the Whitworth, People’s History Museum and HOME Manchester in co-created and co-tailored engagement programmes.

Joined by Venture Arts on the day are experts in the field;

Actionspace and Royal Academy of Arts (London)

Esther Fox – The History of Place (UK)

Bluecoat – Blue Room and Jade French, Art As Advocacy Collective (Liverpool)

Holly Grange, the Whitworth (Manchester)

Autism for the Arts (Manchester)

Manchester Museum (The University of Manchester)

HOME (Manchester)

Royal Exchange Theatre (Manchester).

At this event we talked about the impact that our Cultural Enrichment Programme has had where learning disabled people take ownership of some of our most well-known cultural and heritage spaces and inspired organisations to do the same.

This was a day of talking, debating and sharing to encourage change.

To see photos from the day you can view them on our Flickr account HERE.

You can read our press release HERE.

Image credit: Cultural Enrichment Programme at the Whitworth , photograph by Rhiannon Davies