What made you want to be an artist / performer? I decided to do GCSE drama because I thought I fancied a girl in the class, turns out it was in that class I realised I was gay. I didn’t find a girlfriend but I did find a space in which we were given permission…
Introducing Miss Jacqui
What made you want to be an artist / performer? I’ve always been creative and I wasn’t always sure I could be an artist/performer because I never saw anyone who looked like me do what I wanted to do. I guess I stopped wait for someone else to be the first and jumped in. I…
Introducing Oli Isaac
Oli Isaac What made you want to be an artist / performer? It was always lingering at the back of my head, but I could never decide whether I wanted to be a poet, or film-maker, or novelist, or theatre-maker (and I still don’t). It wasn’t until I got onto development programmes at places like…
Introducing Bibi June
Bibi June What made you want to be an artist / performer? I’m an artist because it brings me joy: to make art, to be creative, and to share that art with others. I love stories and storytelling, and that’s why I started out doing performance poetry. Over time, that love for stories has developed…
Introducing MC Geezer
MC Geezer What made you want to be an artist / performer? I always have love of music so when I was a teenager I got my first Turntable then I become more interested to become and mc, few year down the line I met Troi lee the founder of Deaf Rave who got me…
Introducing Alice Christina-Corrigan
Alice Christina-Corrigan What made you want to be an artist / performer? As a child I was very nervous and incredibly shy, until one day I got up in class and found my ‘spark’ and I never looked back. Since then I grew as a person and always knew I wanted to be working in…
Arts Council England Funding for d/Deaf & disabled artists
In the most recent CRIPtic workshop, the focus was on Arts Council funding – how to get it, what to do with it. I’ve applied for ACE funding before – both times desperately last minute, wrangling with Grantium at 11pm on deadline day, vowing never to make the same mistake again. I’ve even attended workshops…
Integrated and Creative Access with Touretteshero
CRIPtic meets Jess Thom: ‘Creativity can be a catalyst for change’ For deaf and disabled creatives working in the arts, it’s easier to produce art which is accessible to ourselves, with access bolted on to the end. Rather than thinking about how our work can be created with British Sign Language (BSL) at the very…
Integrated Audio-Description with Quiplash
I’m a disabled writer working across performance, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Last month, I was invited to attend half the workshops on the CRIPtic programme as a notetaker and blogger, and jumped at the chance – to learn more about access, to develop my craft, and to meet other emerging disabled creatives. The first workshop,…