About Conversations Series II

Conversations Series II, led by Venture Arts and in partnership with Castlefield Gallery and the Whitworth, is a collaborative residency that has brought together three learning-disabled artists who are part of the Venture Arts supported studios, working alongside the three visual artists from the north west of England. The group have been developing shared ideas, creating new work, and have been reflecting on the labels placed upon us by society. This residency builds on the success of OutsiderXchanges from 2015-16.

The selected artists Joe Beedles, James Desser, Amy Ellison, Frances Heap, Andrew Johnstone, and John Powell-Jones have spent time with the Whitworth team and the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, having time and access to explore the collection, its ethics and its display. This collection was used as a starting point to see what ideas and visual responses develop during the collaborative residency. Castlefield Gallery have been providing the artists taking part with mentoring and crit support at key stages over the course of the residency period.

The six artists have been given full access to free studio space in Hulme for five months (October 2018 – February 2019), coming together as a group for one day per week to share the space altogether.

The intention of Conversations Series II is that work resulting from the residency programme will be shared with the public across several platforms from March 2019 - check the events page for more information on this.