Shape Arts

Shape Arts or Shape is a London-based arts charity, funded by Arts Council England, that is committed to providing opportunities for disabled individuals wanting to work in the arts and cultural sector. It trains participants and runs arts and development programmes across all of the creative arts: visual arts, music, dance, writing and acting. Shape Arts partners with major cultural institutions to create positive change for disabled people by improving access, exposure and opportunities in contemporary art.

Shape was founded by Gina Levete MBE in 1976 with project funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation. The current CEO is Tony Heaton OBE.

Shape was informed by the political activism of the 60s. Disability arts grew out of the disability rights movement, and the wider struggle by disabled people for equality and the right to participate in all aspects of society.

Their mission is to provide skills, opportunities and support for disabled artists, individuals and cultural organisations; and help build a more inclusive cultural sector. It does this through four delivery aims:

Shape Arts arranges exhibitions, awards bursaries to promising disabled artists and provides training in media and marketing skills. From December 2012 - Spring 2013, a pop-up exhibition entitled 'Shape in the City' was presented in the centre of the City of London. Shape recently had a temporary exhibition space for two years - a gallery at Westfield Stratford City.

Renowned British contemporary artists have donated artworks to Shape to raise money for the charity through an auction at Bonhams. Funds raised from the sale were matched by the Arts Council’s Catalyst Arts Fund and went towards supporting new arts activities and opportunities for disabled people. Works by Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mat Collishaw, Angela de la Cruz, Tacita Dean, Sir Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn and David Shrigley were auctioned at Bonhams London on 4 March 2014.

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