Richard Ibbotson, National Director of Autism Initiatives UK, will talk at a fundraising event for the Gallery on the Corner, on 21 February.
The organisation – the first Autism Ventures Scotland social company to be established – represents and supports inclusive artwork produced by artists who have a physical or mental health condition or those from a disadvantaged background. More specifically, it was set up to provide employment opportunities and experiences for people with Autism Spectrum Condition in Scotland.
Entry to the event will be free (although donations are welcome), a complementary lesson in origami and glass of wine with your name on it await, and there will be a raffle with prizes including a year's membership of the National Galleries and a night's stay in the Glasgow Hilton Hotel.
The evening starts at 6.30pm on Tuesday 21 February, at 34 Northumberland Street (Tel. 557 8969), and has been facilitated by another local charity we admire: the Dalmeny Street-based Art in Healthcare.
As early as 1859, Florence Nightingale noted how 'variety of form and brilliancy of colour in the objects presented to patients can have a powerful effect and are actual means of recovery’. Put simply: see good paintings, get well sooner.
Art in Healthcare thoroughly endorses this claim. An innovative charity – busy in various forms since 1991 – it aims to improve a wide range of Scottish healthcare environments by displaying visual artworks.
One of the Gallery's featured artists is Alison Prosser, whose work 'Feeding the Animals' (above) is included in the prestigious Art in Healthcare collection. She studied first at Leith School of Art before finishing a degree at Edinburgh College of Art. During that time she was unwell with depression, and art formed a very important part of her recovery. She went on to complete a postgraduate diploma at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen.