Shaping the future of disability arts

Tony Heaton is lauded as “a sculptor of organisations” as well as a prolific maker of iconic disability art. As he takes up his role as chief executive of national deaf and disability arts organisation Shape he talks to Kelly Mullan

To get the measure of Tony Heaton take a look at his latest public sculpture project: Squarinthecircle?, the largest piece of disability art in the UK, bears his trademarks of ambition, creative collaboration, and a message about accessibility to the arts; the inner sanctum of the sculpture is inaccessible to wheelchairs.

“We’ve got to open up the arts to disabled people, we’ve got to create more opportunities, and we’ve got to convince the mainstream to take more risks,” says Shape’s new CEO.

Shape brokers accessibility in every aspect of cultural life, to enable disabled people to take the best possible advantage of the richness of the arts and cultural sectors. As Heaton makes plans to build on Shape’s 30-year history, his mission, as always, is “to lift disability arts out of day centres, into a mainstream setting of real quality”.

Ambition, collaboration and concern with accessibility are at the heart of his vision. Shape ensures disabled people are fully involved in the arts at all levels, from audience participation, working as artists, being on the boards of organisations, through to working in cultural industries.

Heaton sees his leadership role and artistic practice as running parallel: “It’s the same process of generating ideas and putting ideas into practice. Artists can see things in a different way and creative thinking is vital for developing organisations.”

Both as a leader and an artist, he values collaboration. On inviting dancers to work with him on Squarinthecircle? (pictured, right), he says: “We have our own fixed ideas; collaborators unlock other bits and interpret the idea differently. Artists need to be open to everything.”

This ability to build creative alliances looks set to serve Heaton well at Shape, working with mainstream organisations to get the best possible deal for disabled artists and audiences.

Breaking into the mainstream means getting a wider audience for, often marginalised, disability arts.

Heaton is passionate about the worth of this genre: “It’s powerful work that says something about what it’s like to be discriminated against, to live on benefits, to live in an institution, to be excluded.

The artwork can speak in a different voice. A poem can articulate a lack of access better than a more aggressive, confrontational approach. You’ve got to think of as many ways to communicate as possible.

“Disability arts can be a whole lot of different things: it can be a celebration of disabled people’s lives; it can be very beautiful, very aesthetic; or it can be very politicised.

“Disability arts and disability politics have informed each other. Political action took place and art was created for it or came out of it.

“It was an amorphous, creative time. Across genre, visual arts were produced, along with cabaret and poetry. Agitprop, like Shaken not Stirred, got coverage for the block telethon campaign. It reinforced the message of rights not charity. Disability arts are sometimes another way of reinforcing political message.”

On radical change needed beyond the art world, Heaton says: “The perception that disability is the responsibility of health and social services has to change. Everybody needs to acknowledge that disabled people have a right to the things that everybody else takes for granted. If everybody takes responsibility to be inclusive, then things will improve. It’s not about social services getting better – it’s about everybody getting better.”

Taking his cue from Picasso, Heaton prizes playfulness and doesn’t take himself too seriously: “Squaring the circle weighs 13.5 tonnes. A bloke with limited mobility who uses a wheelchair most of the time trying to carve huge hunks of stone; it’s ridiculous!”

Whether carving into Portland stone, marble or wood; or constructing pieces out of wheelchairs or charity collecting tins, he says: “The idea always comes first. Then it’s about how best to resolve the idea.”

• Tony Heaton working on squarinthecircle? a Dada-South arts project with Diablo Arts www.tonyhenton.co.uk