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23
Jun 2023
Ripon museum artworks to tell stories of people with disabilities
Life in Ripon's workhouse was hard enough for abled bodied people, but what was it like for those with mental or physical disabilities?
Tomorrow, between 10am and 12.30pm, people of all ages and abilities are invited to work alongside disabled artists Kate Lovell and Aisling Gallagher to produce artworks that 'respond to the language of disability and its evolution through history'.
Taking its inspiration from the lives and experiences of people with disabilities who were inmates of the former Ripon Workhouse, the interactive event titled 'Reclaiming Lunacy' is free to attend and has been made possible with an £11,000 grant from Historic England's Everyday Lottery Fund.
Saturday's art session follows research carried out as part of the project, by the museum's curatorial volunteers, who uncovered unseen histories of disabled people who were at the workhouse between the Victorian era and the early 1900s.
As well as being artists, Ms Lovell is a theatre-maker and writer, while Ms Gallagher is a director and creative access practitioner.
Rachael Warren, marketing manager at Ripon Museum Trust said:
The Everyday Heritage grant scheme was launched by Historic England earlier this year to support community-led projects and further the nation's collective understanding of the past.
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