Arts / Art in Motion
Arts charity launches fundraiser
A charity that helps people who have learning disabilities has launched a crowdfunder to help it through a period without Arts Council backing.
Art in Motion (AIM) hopes to raise £50,000 while it waits for the next funding cycle to arrive.
“We’re really confident we will get the Arts Council funding we applied for but we won’t get that probably till September,” said lead artist Colin Higginson.
“In the arts at the moment funding is really pressured because there’s less funding around and more organisations going for it.”
Higginson, who won a Bristol Legends award in the arts leaders category, is director of the charity and oversees its mission.
“We are creating opportunities for artists with learning disabilities who are very disadvantaged in the arts, and breaking down barriers for those kinds of people to be fully engaged in the arts,” he said.
Director Colin Higginson won a Bristol Legends award in March – photo: Molly Pipe
AIM runs writing and art groups, provides supported studio space and puts on exhibitions of its members’ work.
It runs a year-long course at Arnolfini, where it is an artist in residence.
“A lot of our artists will actually run workshops rather than always being participants in workshops,” Higginson said. “The artists really steer the direction of the organisation.”
At a fundraising performance on Saturday members read out poems they had written themselves from an anthology called The Mermaid’s Hair is Water.
Copies of the book sold will help raise money for the organisation.
Helen Beer, an artist who has been with the organisation since 2022, said: “Since joining AIM, it’s really benefited me. It’s helped me with my confidence, and it’s given me the opportunity to exhibit.”
“I feel really like I’m getting out there and getting my voice heard,” said artist Katy Tovey.
The crowdfunder, which runs until June 8, asks people to “stand with us at a vital moment in helping to protect AIM, and the opportunities it creates for artists to develop, connect and thrive.”
Main photo: Molly Pipe
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