Observatorium: Report of 2020 - 2021
Flow started 2020 keen to start Kongress, our largest project to date commissioned and funded by Arts Council England, looking at the ‘barriers to engagement in the arts for Neurodivergent people’- an issue that was in vital need of addressing. We were planning our ‘engaging artists tour’ while looking at the news concerning COVID-19 and decided to create a plan B: to go online ‘virtually’, and create surveys for the data collection. Although this was not an ideal way to engage, we factored in zoom artist meetings too. Soon we found ourselves needing to leave the office and work from home and a few weeks later the first lockdown was announced. Ben and Jon have worked virtually over phone and zoom since. Unfortunately, and sadly, we’ve not accessed our office as Jon falls into the ‘Clinically Extremely Vulnerable’ category. Yet again we had to rethink priorities and ways of working. Through each Covid-19 lockdown, Flow was ineligible for any Government or local council financial support which was disappointing.
We had to be flexible and rewrite the Kongress programme to include 3 surveys rather than an initial survey, each iterative, based on the results of the previous one. We also worked with 6 other Neurodivergent artists commissioning them to create work to illustrate some of the barriers. We worked closely with Dan Thompson who stepped in with a management, as well as artistic, role. We presented the results at Mozilla Festival to an international audience early in 2021 (finished and submitted the report in June 2021- we understand it was well received). A website has been created for Kongress and a blog for Flow Observatorium which is updated regularly.
We have strengthened our relationships locally as well as internationally including supporting and working with PACF (Portsmouth Autism Community Forum), AH (Autism Hampshire), PCOS (Portsmouth City of Sanctuary) with whom officially we are the lead for PCOS for Autistic People. We partnered with PACF, who were part of a successful Portsmouth bid alongside Portsmouth Creates and others with YouTrust leading the ‘Thriving Communities’ fund to run creative sessions on prescription for Autistic people until 2022.
Jon, our artistic director, suffered a few setbacks during 2020. He was retraumatised by certain events and his father sadly passed away which, along with the isolation of lockdowns, has impacted on his work time/capacity. As CEV he isolated and was unable to travel to deliver his usual talks/ create artwork which has since mostly gone ‘online’- potentially reaching a wider audience. He worked on two virtual arts projects: ‘Flow Unlocked’, a UCL Trellis project with autistic people in lockdown in London’s East End and a socially engaged arts project for DAO called ‘Metaordinary’. As well as digital working he has started to draw again- something we have taken forward with the prescribed creative sessions. One of his ‘Covid Corvid’ images for Flow Unlocked was chosen for the International Pandemic Art Archive in Berkeley California. He also presented virtually on arts creativity in autism research at the IAF (International Autism Festival), on Autism and Mental Health for Anna Freud Centre and Mental Health Autism.
Flow Observatorium
Portsmouth Guildhall Guildhall Square Portsmouth PO1 2AB Registered Charity Number: 1177328
| EXPENDITURE | INCOME | INCOME | INCOME | INCOME | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payee | Item | Kongress | Date | Date | Brought Forward | Grant Income | Other | ||
| Grant Funding Carried forward from 2019/2020: | £12,300 | ||||||||
| Liz Weston | Online Resources | £384.00 | 12/08/2020 | Arts Council Grant (Kongress 2nd PAYMENT) | 12/10/2020 | £6,000 | |||
| Liz Weston | Online Resources | £143.88 | 03/11/2020 | ||||||
| HSBC COMPENSATION | 03/02/2021 | £200 | |||||||
| HSBC COMPENSATION | 10/02/2021 | £150 | |||||||
| Dan Thompson | Fee (Project Manager) | £412.50 | 1/12/2020 | ||||||
| Dan Thompson | Fee (Project Manager) | £387.50 | 6/12/2020 | ||||||
| Jon Adams | Fee (Artistic Director) | £392.50 | 1/12/2020 | ||||||
| Jon Adams | Fee (Artistic Director) | £407.50 | 6/12/2020 | ||||||
| Jon Adams | Fee (Artistic Director) | £383.60 | 16/12/2020 | ||||||
| Dan Thompson | Fee (Project Manager) | £423.79 | 22/12/2020 | ||||||
| Jon Adams | Fee (Artistic Director) | £413.22 | 22/12/2020 | ||||||
| Dan Thompson | Fee (Project Manager) | £390.49 | 29/12/2020 | ||||||
| Jon Adams | Fee (Artistic Director) | £403.18 | 29/12/2020 | ||||||
| Dan Thompson | Fee (Project Manager) | £385.72 | 30/12/2020 | ||||||
| Liz Weston | Admin Fee | £450 | 4/1/2021 | ||||||
| Barry Hale | Artist Fee | £250 | 16/3/2021 | ||||||
| Liz Weston | Admin Fee | £450 | 16/3/2021 | ||||||
| Sonia Boue | Artist Fee | £300 | 16/03/2021 | ||||||
| Sonia Boue | Artist Fee | £300 | 16/03/2021 | ||||||
| Sonia Boue | Artist Fee | £400 | 16/03/2021 | ||||||
| Cos Michael | Artist Fee | £250 | 22/03/2021 | ||||||
| Ellie Tait | Artist Fee | £250 | 23/03/2021 | ||||||
| Sonja Zelic | Artist Fee | £250 | 23/03/2021 | ||||||
| Total Expenditure | £7,427.88 | £12,300 | £6,000.00 | £350 | |||||
| Grant Funding Brought Forward | £12,300 | ||||||||
| Income 20/21 | £6,350 | ||||||||
| Total Income | £18,650.00 | ||||||||
| Expenditure 20/21 | £7,427.88 | ||||||||
| Net Figure to be carried forward to 21/22 | £11,222.12 |
Signed by Liz Weston, Chair, 02/02/2022: