MixAbilities Inclusive Arts Training Phase 2 2019

In early May 2019 I completed work overseeing a revised MixAbilities training program at Kingston's H'art Centre. For 13 weeks 4 artists/leaders and 1 artist/volunteer worked through 6 training modules, in support of their work "helping adults with intellectual disabilities reach their highest potential through the arts".

Phase 2 training began in early February with the artist/leaders participating in an immersive afternoon session - learning about H'art's vision, developmental disabilities, communication strategies, managing groups and creative learning spaces.

Readings, exercises and tools were provided to help artist/leaders plan and facilitate engaging workshops. Artist/leaders observed each other in action and shared their experiences in one on one as well as group meetings.

The valuable feedback provided will help fine-tune MixAbilities training further before the start of Phase 3 later this year.

All artist/leaders agreed that the training raised awareness around inclusivity and accessibility in the arts and helped in their work supporting H'art artist/participants.