“Max is an extremely skilled facilitator and communicator. In Oily Cart’s creative process, his work with the young Autistic collaborators was done with rigour, integrity and huge amounts of creativity and playfulness. His perspective as an Autistic artist enriched the process in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. When you are juggling everything you have to when leading a project, this type of support is vital to avoid tokenism and making unintentional mistakes that can have damaging effects on the people you are trying to enable. It was extremely reassuring having Max’s input, not just as a consultant, but a full part of the creative process. From my perspective, very few people are able to offer this level of specialised skill, to really understand both the artistic process and the perspective of the young people. He was able to guide us in balancing the two, which ultimately made both the process and artistic outcome stronger”
Ellie Griffiths, Artistic Director of Oily Cart
A Creative Facilitator is useful for any theatre, dance or arts project who are looking to widen who they make work for and with. I specialise in working creatively with Autistic young people, including those who do not rely on verbal communication. Although many artists and theatre companies are keen to collaborate with a broad range of people, especially those whose voices are not often heard in mainstream culture, the complex ethics around this can be intimidating, and many feel they do not have the skills or confidence to do this unsupported. This can mean there is often an ‘access cut off’, where individuals who do not use verbal language as their main way of communicating, are repeatedly excluded.
The Creative Facillitator is there to bridge the gap between artists/organisation’s vision and the collaborators they are working with. They are responsible for ensuring the creative process is meaningful, and relevant to the person being worked with, and a mutually positive experience. They make sure that the expression of the collaborator is listened to and their agency in the process is safeguarded. From my experiences of being an artist, access specialist, facilitator, I am uniquely placed to offer this support to artists and organisations who keen to lead more inclusive projects and creative processes.
Play Radical 