A Belfast 'university' is providing support and opportunities for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists across Northern Ireland.
The University of Atypical is a charity that was founded around 30 years ago in an effort to support established and up and coming artists who are deaf, disabled or neurodiverse by providing them with support within the industry and a platform to promote their work.
Amy Hannah is one artist who has been helped by the charity and recently graduated from the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University and received the University of Atypical Graduate Art Award for 2022.
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As part of her award she has been helped to create her first exhibition since graduation along with being provided mentorship by Dr Sandra Johnson, a former lecturer of hers in university.
The exhibition, which is now open at the Atypical Gallery on Royal Avenue, is called 'Epitaph' that aims to show the visual experience of growing up growing up neurodivergent and how she has moved passed the struggles that surrounded this such as bullying and trying to fit in. It is running from June 22 to July 22.
Speaking to Belfast Live, she said: "My exhibition, Epitaph, is a sort of prequel to my work in university and aims to take people on a journey through my early years as someone who is neurodiverse and how my memories of growing up have been altered by my personal experiences.
"For a lot of my childhood I suffered from bullying, so I don't remember an awful lot about what was going on, but I can remember being there and feeling apart from everything. The use of static in the pictures is a symbol of that as it shows how I was feeling during those years, isolated from others.
"I am very grateful for all of the help and support that I have received from the University of Atypical in helping me prepare for my first exhibition following my graduation after I was honoured to receive their 2022 Graduate Award.
"The help I have received from Damien and my former lecturer and mentor Dr Sandra Johnson has been amazing and really helped me make connections and get a start as an artist."
Damien Coyle, Chief Executive of the University of Atypical, said that the charity aims to support a wide range of artists throughout Northern Ireland who are deaf, disabled or neurodiverse, along with helping to reach new audiences and providing education on how to make entertainment and the arts more inclusive.
He said: "The University of Atypical has been running for around 30 years after it was founded by Chris Ledger who was a real champion for the arts and the disabled.
"The aim of the charity is to provide as much support to deaf, disabled and neurodiverse artists and audiences, whether that is through providing funding and grants, mentoring schemes or educational programmes.
"There are nearly 400 artists that we are working with at the moment on a range of different projects and are also able to provide an outlet and opportunities for artists to create and show their work.
"Education is also a big part of the work that we do and we engage with organisations across Northern Ireland in order to help them understand how they can be more inclusive and make venues and events more accessible to those who may have challenges attending them.
"We are also thankful for all of the support that we have received from the Arts Council and Department for Communities who we work closely alongside in order to boost the opportunities for deaf, disabled and neurodiverse artists and audiences."
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