CitySide Retail Park

Ground floor, Unit D 

Belfast, BT15 1WA            

About Us

Developing Community Through Arts

Community arts programmes work!

 

Located in Belfast, Cityside Retail Park. Arts for All has been a bedrock of community arts in north Belfast for 24 years. The core of the organisation's work is to offer opportunities for participation in the arts to support community development, education, community relations, personal development and social cohesion. 

Arts for All firmly believes that positive change can be achieved  through the delivery of arts projects which can improve the lives of local residents  – both today and in the future. Through experience, Arts for All knows that those who become involved in creative activity are more inclined to stay involved in the life of the community.

Arts For All is working towards a better future for north Belfast.

OUR VISION 

Arts for All uses the arts to develop a more cohesive, confident and creative community in north Belfast

 

Arts for All is all about positive change

Providing art in business training. This course will support anyone entering the world of self-employment as an artist.

Providing a launchpad for artists and art groups to exhibit in the John Luke Gallery, one of the largest community art spaces and gallery in Belfast.

Facilitating a year-round free and low-cost accessible programme of arts activity that facilitated by professional artists, thereby giving paid contracts to creatives and removing the barrier of high cost to participants.

  • Cultural Hub open to all. Listening to our users and delivering new arts activities as requested.
  • The inspire project is aimed to improve the skills and confidence of adults with learning disabilities through the Arts.
  • The Inspire+ programme is breaking down the barriers for adults with learning disabilities by unlocking potential educational and employment opportunities. Working out of the Belfast School of Art towards gaining entry to the foundation degree course starting September 2025.
  • From last year's evaluation, we believe that a major part of participants creative education is about experiencing and developing their own opinion on art. This can only be developed through exposure to arts and different art forms. Running visual arts workshops from our accessible venue at Arts for All provides participants with a creative space, resources and valuable signposting opportunities.   

Arts at the heart of it All

 

  • Over the past year, we have been working hard, strengthening our partnerships with the local community sector, Ulster University & Queens University Belfast. This has allowed us to share our space with emerging artists, allow them a platform to exhibit, and has afforded Arts for All an increase in demand for workshops and exhibitions in the venue.

 

  • The 'I am Inspired project' has continued to provide and nurture creative workshops to adults assessed as having a learning disability living in the Belfast Trust area (from 2017). We have observed participants' confidence grow each week through creating artwork in paint, pen, collage and clay.

 

  • Ground-breaking news!!!! We want to add to this portfolio by offering visual art workshops to our participants from the Inspire project (adults with learning disabilities) at the Belfast School of Art and exposing the participants to student life. These participants will become students at UU and will work towards gaining entry to the Foundation degree course in September 2024. This is a major step up for the world of learning disabilities. We are proud to partner up with Belfast School of Art to provide this service.

 

  • Since 2019, in Cityside retail park, we have continued to attract new visitors and artists each week and have increased response to small retail offerings and displaying local artists' work. With over 10,000 square feet of workshop and gallery space, our numbers have recovered from covid-19 restrictions. We now welcome over seven hundred visitors weekly, with average exhibition launch attendees of 120 and up to five hundred for the exhibition's duration. General footfall for the centre as per door counters amounts to seven thousand each day. This allows us to develop and grow our audiences at a grassroots level.

 


To see the most recent Annual Report click here.

 

Arts for All

Board Directors 

Chair: Jennifer Crockard  

Treasurer: Muriel Bowyer

Rosie Mulvenna

Helen Johnston

Lee Reynolds

Joe Crainey

Ian Crozier 

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