Celebrating 7 years of Unlimited Trainees

Giving opportunities to emerging arts producers and arts workers has always been a priority of Artsadmin. We’ve run a trainee programme since 1998 and, through Unlimited, we were able to expand that offer from 2013-2022. These year-long opportunities gave disabled emerging or early career arts workers the opportunity to learn about all sorts of aspects of working in the arts – from commissioning artists to social media, application processes to presentation giving, and much more.

This illustration, commissioned by our last Unlimited trainee at Artsadmin April Lin, celebrates the trainees and we want to thank them for their amazing work!

Illustration by Roberto Sitta at Creative Connection

Interviews with Unlimited Trainees (represented in the illustration above):

April Lin

Where are they now?
Freelancing with Unlimited, focusing on artistic practice.

What is on the horizon?
Jerwood/FACT Residency, solo show in Leipzig in May, programming screenings for film festivals, WAIWAV performance at Manchester Art Gallery

Arts organisations I worked with as a trainee
Forma, Wellcome Collection, MAYK, British Council, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, The Work Room, Southbank Centre, The Space

Artists I worked with as a trainee
Laura Fisher, Jameisha Prescod, Ayesha Jones, Emily Beaney, Karen Visser, Linda Devo, Sophie Hoyle, Tobi Adebajo

Things I took forward
Feeling more secure in my knowledge of the arts sector and how it functions both on a macro and micro scale. Feeling more secure in how to facilitate accessibility from the outset

Alistair Gentry

Where are they now?
Co-facilitating the Into the Wild professional development programme for artists at Chisenhale Studios. Research project at KCL.

What is on the horizon?
Artist residency at Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio. Secret commission this summer!

Arts organisations I worked with as a trainee
Wellcome Trust, the British Council, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Rural Touring Network, Farnham Maltings. Disability Arts Alliance and We Shall Not Be Removed.

Artists I worked with as a trainee
Jonny Cotsen, Tourette’s Hero, Oozing Gloop, Jo Bannon, Chisato Minamimura

Things I took forward
“…inclusion and accessibility makes the work better and makes the experience of the work better for everyone because it cultivates thoughtfulness and consideration of the fact that everyone has their own unique and equally valid experience of being the expert on their own body and their own mind.”

Sarah Thewlis

Where are they now?
Moved to Liverpool, works at DaDa, as their Marketing Officer

Arts organisations I worked with as a trainee
Arts Council, British Council, Edinburgh International Festival, Sick Festival, Wellcome, LADA, DaDa, Chapel Arts Centre, Arc Stockton, IETM, ITC, Touretteshero, Battersea Arts Centre, Disability Arts Online, GRAEAE, Deafinitely Theatre, Drake Music, Metal, The Space Arts, BBC Writersroom, Homotopia, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, Unity Theatre, Blackfest, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Future Yard, Black Gold Arts, Triple C, The Bluecoat and lots more

Artists I worked with as a trainee
Amy Rosa, Jack Dean, Cheryl Martin, Ellen Renton, Nye Russell Thompson, Jess Thom, Sop, Kristina Veasey, Rowan James, Neal Pike, Matilda Ibini, JoAnne Haines, Sonny Nwachukwu, Anna Berry, Toby Peach, Natasha Sutton-Williams, Bim Ajadi, Sophie Woolley, Melissa Johns, Felix Peckitt, Joel Brown, Raquel Meseguer, Chisato Minamimura

Things I took forward
“…the key is to identify what changes can be made to make the workplace accessible to me. I’ve taken this forward as a principle both for myself and in terms of how I advocate for others…”

Sonny Nwachukwu

Where are they now?
Show, Saturn Returns. Associate artist at Graeae and work part-time at Arts Council England. Board member at Unlimited.

What is on the horizon?
Own company Gateway Arts

Arts organisations I worked with as a trainee
Poplar Union, Brownton Abbey, Hackney Showroom, Graeae, Arts Council England, Artsadmin, Brixton House, Southbank Centre, The Space, Tamasha, Soho Theatre, Team Angelica

Artists I worked with as a trainee
Sophie Woolley, Amy Rosa, Billy Read, Brownton Abbey, Suzie Larke, Mojosola Adebayo

Things I took forward
I won’t apologise for having a disability.

James Zatka-Haas

Where are they now?
Royal College of Art 3 days a week as an administrative assistant and regularly contribute to Disability Arts Online.

What is on the horizon?
Bursary by the Wellcome Collection and Spread the Word.

Arts organisations I worked with as a trainee
IELTS, Shape Arts (Obviously), Action Space, Studio Voltaire, Project Art Works, Planted Symphony, Bay Arts, SICK Festival, Disconsortia, Nucleus Arts.

Artists I worked with as a trainee
Jack Dean

Things I took forward
A deep and unwavering love for disability and the people who commit themselves to expanding how the world sees it.

Simon Overington-Hickford

Where are they now?
English Heritage, worked for a faith and peace charity, I carried on my work with libraries and during the pandemic I have been working as a primary school teacher.

Arts organisations I worked with as a trainee
Northern festivals network, Southbank Centre, Tramway, Shape Arts, Strike a Light festival , London Theatre Consortium, Epic Arts Cambodia 

Artists I worked with as a trainee
Jack Dean, Maki Yamazaki

Things I took forward
It massively boosted my confidence and my skillset. I have used elements of  what I learnt in all of my other varied roles since. The traineeship really opened my eyes to the arts scene outside of theatre and ‘traditional’ visual arts and made me think. The traineeship was also the first I was encouraged to advocate for my own access needs and that I should be comfortable enough at work not to feel I can’t talk about my disability.