Shared Lines
Partners: This New Ground CIC (Portsmouth & London, England) and kaethe:k Kunsthaus (Pulheim, Germany)
Image © This New Ground
“Through this partnership, we want to explore how artists with a learning disability can collaborate across countries, languages, and different ways of working. By bringing together participatory and supported-studio approaches, we hope to share skills, learn from each other, and develop new, accessible ways of making and communicating art. The exchange will centre artists as leaders, test visual and non-verbal collaboration, and build lasting relationships that support creative confidence, professional development, and inclusive international working.” Nathalie Russell-Clarke (Co-Director of This New Ground)
“For kaethe:k, this collaboration is a natural extension of our mission: to empower artists with disabilities within a professional studio environment and to provide effective access to the arts and the cultural world. Together, we aim to connect supported studio practice with participatory approaches, share knowledge and skills, and test collaborative ways of working—also visual and non-verbal—across countries, languages, and different working methods. At the centre are the artists as makers and decision-makers, with the goal of building creative confidence, professional development, and sustainable international networks.” Melanie Schmitt (Director of kaethe:k Kunsthaus)
About the partners
This New Ground
This New Ground (UK) is an arts organisation elevating the voices and talents of artists with a learning disability. Founded in 2017, TNG have grown from grassroots beginnings into a recognised force for inclusive innovation, with active hubs in London and Portsmouth. Our mission is to remove barriers to artistic creation, participation, and leadership, placing artists with a learning disability at the centre of cultural life. Grounded in collaboration and care, our model is agile, imaginative, and co-led by artists with lived experience. From major public commissions such as We Rise with Jason Wilsher-Mills, to high-profile partnerships with Lush and Aspex Portsmouth, we combine artistic ambition with deep community roots. Each project builds visibility, equity, and opportunity, demonstrating that artists with a learning disability are not simply participants, but creative leaders shaping contemporary culture.
kaethe:k Kunsthaus
kaethe:k art center, founded in 2020, is a professional art studio setting for artistically talented persons with disabilities working on visual art forms such as painting, graphics, plastic arts and media arts. It is serving the idea of equal opportunity and effective access to the arts and the cultural world by supporting artists with disabilities in their own studio practice and by facilitating their growth through its art agency, educational program and network.
