Finding the Flex: Making Studio Spaces Work 

Pyramid supports adults with learning disabilities and/or autism to make art, build confidence and improve social skills. We offer high-quality, person-centred support for members with diverse needs, working in partnership with arts and social care providers citywide. We support around 120 people with learning disabilities and/or autism per year, around half of whom have profound, multiple learning disabilities. 

Our members have told us they want to have choice and freedom about the work they make and how they make it. We work with professional freelance community artists who support our members to explore a range of artforms and experiences. We run eight weekly group sessions, where people come together, have fun and collaborate on varied projects. We also host one-to-one ‘Development Teams’ where members work with professional artist facilitators to develop their creative practice.  

In July 2024, we launched Studio Days, as part of an action research project called Finding the Flex with University of Leeds. Studio Days offers our members access to our fully equipped, accessible studio space for three days a week to work on independent projects. Up until this point, members’ access to studio space was limited to specific group or development sessions.  

‘A major piece of feedback from our members was a need for open studio time,’ said James Hill, Director of Pyramid. ‘There are very few accessible spaces in Leeds where our members can work independently. Offering a flexible, supportive arts studio that has artists with learning disabilities and/or autism in mind has enabled our members to explore and develop their own creative practices.’ 

One of our regular Studio Days attendees is Conor, who started coming to these sessions when they started back in July. Conor comes as often as he can, sometimes up to three times a week during holidays. His favourite medium is drawing and he can often be found working on large artworks during his studio time. 

Conor likes to draw using a variety of materials, and working in our studio space has enabled him to experiment with different mediums like felt tips, coloured pencils, oil pastels, wax crayons, and paint markers. He enjoys layering his work and stacking different patterns and sometimes he’ll break through the paper too. As well as working on his next piece of artwork, Conor loves to use his studio time to socialise and talk about his favourite things.  

The aim of Finding the Flex is to test models for more flexible support and support plans for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to improve the way they’re supported to access different activities in future.  

If you’d like to learn more about Finding the Flex and to visit our accessible art studio, we’re running two free tours during Creativity and Wellbeing Week on Monday 19 May. You can book your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pyramid-open-studios-tour-tickets-1280871624509 

Finding the Flex is in collaboration with University of Leeds School of Fine Art, History of Art, & Cultural Studies on a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and is linked with the Irregular Art Schools research project.   

This article was published by Creativity and Wellbeing Week.