Our Story
“Carousel is a brilliant model of quality artist development (and sustenance) combined with radical inclusion of the most vulnerable”
Donna Close, Cultural Strategist
At Carousel, everything we do is inspired by the talents and ambitions of the people we work with. Devised, made and presented by the artists themselves, Carousel is where learning disabled artists can explore, develop and create.
In the UK, cuts in funding to their support services have left people with learning disabilities facing greater isolation and alienation than ever before. Carousel brings those people together, giving them a creative platform where they can tell their stories, learn new skills, grow confidence, make friends and succeed as artists. We’re here to provide a bridge between people with a learning disability and the wider community, ensuring their creativity can be valued and celebrated.
A key player in the Brighton arts and cultural scene since 1982 and now internationally renowned, we work in partnership with learning disabled artists providing training, production and leadership initiatives that enable those who are often overlooked by mainstream arts to develop and showcase their creative skills.
We are proud to be an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, with our BAFTA qualifying film festival nationally funded by the BFI.
Our Annual Report looks back on all the fantastic things we’ve achieved as an organisation, take a look.
What a year!
We work across five key areas
Artist Development - Skills Training / Placements / Mentoring / Teamwork
Production and Performance - Clubs and gigs / Digital arts / Film and media / Radio and broadcasts / Touring / Visual arts
Partnerships - Funders / Venues / Festivals / Arts organisations / Learning disability networks / Audiences / Businesses
Children & Young People - Schools / Families / Resources / Arts Awards / Artsmark
Consultancy - Creative Minds / Accessibility Training / Sector Support / Industry development
In the last five years…
Artists
Commissioned by Outside In, William Hanekom designed an award-winning map for The National Trust
Matthew Hellett and Becky Bruzas were the first two learning disabled artists accepted on Guiding Lights, the film industry’s leading mentoring programme
The Daniel Wakeford Experience toured internationally with 84k streams on Spotify
Louis Walkden won the Drake Music Emergent Artist award
Jason Eade won a bursary from New Writing South
Mattie Kennedy had a film commissioned by Arts Council England
Eleana Re and Toby Loxton made pieces commissioned by the BBC
Awards
Oska Bright Film Festival wins Best Event in the City at Brighton and Hove Business Awards
Curing Perfect wins Gold at Sussex Digital Awards
Carousel wins Everyday Impact Award from the Directory of Social Change
Carousel Radio wins a British Podcast Award and a Lovie Award
Young Oska Bright Team wins Creative Learning Guild Award
Matthew Hellett is named on Dimensions Leaders List
Lizzie Banks wins BAFTA For The Love of Film competition
Carousel is made an Arts Award Trinity Champion Centre
Reach
Our artists have run more than 850 workshops
The work we’ve made reached a live audience of 34,000
Appeared on national TV with Oska Bright Film Festival and Daniel Wakeford to 3 million viewers
Partnered with Stop Gap, Same Sky, Figment Arts, Artists Open Houses, HOUSE Biennial, Amaze, The Universities of Birmingham and Brighton, Screen Archive South East, Project Artworks and others
Supported over 100 young people through Arts Awards
Oska Bright Film Festival is now a BAFTA Accredited film festival
Lobbied for better representation on screen and behind the scenes with Sky, Channel 4, Into Film
Had our work funded by Brighton and Hove City Council, Foyle Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Wellcome Foundation, Global Make Some Noise, The BFI, and many more…