String
richText
In a busy studio, a dozen different artists are at work - Kylie and Sam are painting, Stacey is sculpting, and Candice is engrossed in her pastel-work. The room is riot of colour and buzzing with chatter:
“It’s just pure creativity, energy and joy in the room,” says lead artist, Tina Dempsey.
This isn’t any ordinary art studio, though – it’s a pARTnership session. These bring together artists with and without learning disabilities to create, exhibit and, very often, sell contemporary artworks.
Kylie and Sam’s paintings were up in Grundy Art Gallery earlier this year, Stacey’s sculptures are part of the permanent collection at Manchester Art Gallery, and Candice’s works have been bought by collectors around the world.
Held within Blackpool Centre for Independent Living (BCIL) every Friday, and at The New Langdale in Bispham every Wednesday, pARTnership sessions are delivered by the Grundy as part of Blackpool Council’s adult day services.
But this isn’t “just a day centre thing,” says Tina.
“The pARTnership allows neurodiverse artists to develop their own, individual art practices and then find or create opportunities to share these, in just the same way that I, as a freelance artist, look for opportunities for my art.”
Now five years and 500 sessions in, the pARTnership is a well-established art programme; funded by Arts Council England.
It hosts a stand at the Manchester Contemporary Art Fair every year, and the artists’ works are part of annual programming at the Grundy too:
“It’s much more than just shows here and there,” Tina explains. “Our artists often sell their work too. One of our artists, Candice, is represented by Jennifer Lauren Gallery, who’s sold her pieces in Canada, New York and London.”
Candice – the internationally-represented artist
Candice only joined the pARTnership sessions in 2020, so she’s considered an “emerging artist”.
Nevertheless, as well as selling works internationally, she was last year shortlisted for the International Visionary Award, supported by Artworks Together.
Candice’s landscapes have an otherworldly feel to them – much like the views along stretches of beach at St Annes North or Fleetwood on a hazy day. Another of the artists leans over to answer what mediums Candice uses to create these captivating pieces – “they’re oil pastels and soft pastels,” Kylie explains.
Kylie – the artist turned teacher
Kylie’s working on her own painting today, but on Wednesday afternoons she volunteers at the pARTnership session at New Langdale, which Candice also attends. Her detailed pencil drawings, paintings and close-up photography of pigeons are beautiful.
“I use a variety of materials,” Kylie says of her own works. “Most recently I’ve been doing drawings of birds and abstract pieces. I’m inspired by patterns, nature and people. It’s lovely to help other people too, it makes me very happy doing the thing I love doing.”
Kirsty – the abstract acrylic painter
The community element of pARTnership sessions is almost as important as the activities, particularly for the loved ones of the artists. “It’s fantastic for her to be amongst a mixture of people like this,” says mum Jill, whose daughter Kirsty has been coming to sessions at BCIL for decades.
Kirsty creates mesmerising brightly coloured, layered acrylic pieces, that feel like 3D magic eye pictures. One of her pieces sold at the Manchester Contemporary Art Fair in 2025 – “I thought wow, we’ve got an artist in the family!” adds Jill.
Candice has been attending different sessions at BCIL and New Langdale for more than 30 years too.
“Langdale and BCIL have been a huge part of her life,” says her mum, Alison. “She loves coming here and interacting with the staff. I’m only sad she can’t come five days-a-week.”
“pARTnership sessions offer total independence for neurodiverse artists who often need support elsewhere in their lives.”
Crucially, the pARTnership sessions allow support, community and opportunity to translate into independence for the artists, as Tina explains:
“Through a lot of their lives, our artists often need support. Here, what they do and produce is solely theirs. Their work belongs to them. They decide what they use and what they create. It’s total independence for them. Whatever their needs or barriers, we’ll find a way for them.”
Stacey – the sculptor
The creativity that goes into removing barriers is best shown through Stacey’s sculptures. Stacey’s mobility is limited to her hands: “So we tried a few different mediums for her and found that air dry clay worked really well and she started creating small sculptures with that,” Tina says.
Three bronze-coated sculptures of Stacey’s have since been bought and added to the permanent collection at Manchester Art Gallery:
“That’s such a big achievement for any artist. And the growth in confidence we see from our artists is great too. Chloe, for example, wouldn’t really talk to anyone when she first came. Now she’s running workshops for people. She’s blossomed in so many ways. Seeing what we’ve done here has had a ripple effect to other council teams and groups locally, showing what can be achieved through creativity. In that way, this kind of thing starts to change the world.”
Cllr Neal Brookes, cabinet member for adult services, says of the pARTnership:
“We’re all in awe of the creativity of the pARTnership’s artists and the doors that have been opened because of it. The pARTnership is yet another example of an offering developed for and with Blackpool residents that truly changes lives. This isn’t just a nice-to-have project. It’s a must-have, long-term programme that gives those involved increased confidence, independence and sense of belonging. This offers benefits far beyond the art studio. Some of our artists have progressed into independent or semi-independent living, spurred on by all that they’ve gained through the pARTnership, for example. Every credit also to the artists and teams from BCIL and New Langdale who facilitate these sessions – I know they feel as fulfilled by the programme as the artists themselves.”
The pARTnership is led by Grundy Art Gallery, in collaboration with lead artist Tina Dempsey, The New Langdale (Blackpool Council's learning-disability day-time service), with funding from Arts Council England through the Grundy's National Portfolio Funding.
The Grundy is currently hosting Claude Monet’s ‘The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil’ (1872) until June as part of the National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2025–2027. This comes as Blackpool has been longlisted to bid for the UK City of Culture 2029, showing how serious the town is about investing in arts and culture.
To see more works by the pARTnership’s artists, follow them on Instagram: @thepartnership
Meet the artists
Sam – the portrait painter
Sam uses lots of different mediums for her art but her favourite is painting portraits. “I do them of famous people,” she says, proudly showing off her portrait of Sandy and Danny from the film Grease. The cheerfulness of the piece is as much a reflection of Sam’s own personality as the characters depicted. Creating art is just one of the reasons she loves attending BCIL: “I like seeing my friends when I come here too, and the staff. It’s amazing,” she says.
Chloe – the exhibitor
Chloe held her own solo exhibition at the Manchester Contemporary Art Fair in 2024, where several of her works were sold too. “I do a lot of artwork,” she says. “I like mixed media pieces and I really like work by Picasso.” She’s created so many works over the years, staff at BCIL have compiled them into display books to share with potential buyers. You can see her works displayed in tram stops along the promenade too.
Conor - the digital artist
Conor has one of his digital pieces up in a tram stop too. He’s also had works turned into stop motions pieces by Joseph Doubtfire – a freelance digital artist who helps lead the pARTnership sessions alongside Tina and sculpture artist Janine Walker – and exhibited at the Grundy. He gets his artistic streak from his mum, Jacquie, a painter and decorator. “He loves it here,” she says. “I love seeing what they all create.”
1 / 4
2 / 4
3 / 4
4 / 4
❮
❯