VX Labs Consultation Report – Autumn 2023

The consultation, conducted between September and December 2023, involved face-to-face sessions in various locations across the UK (see acknowledgements), with supplementary online sessions, interviews, and an online survey, reaching a total of 94 participants. The demographic data of this group reveals a diverse group of people with multiple intersections across sexual orientation, gender, and ethnicity. This level of complexity is also revealed in participants’ arts practice with many individuals enjoying a multi-disciplinary practice. Very few individuals describe themselves under one label with the exception of actors (largely accounted for by visiting Ego Theatre’s actor training programme.)
The consultation was set in the context of the arts and culture sector's challenges focusing on the struggles individuals and organisations face due to raised costs, post-Brexit challenges, global events, and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of the issues faced by the artists in the consultation are known issues in the sector including the lack of infrastructure to support artists at various career stages, job competition and the lack of clear career pathways, particularly for those who are mid-career. This is compounded by limited knowledge of disabled artists and their work, a perceived tick box culture and the often-expressed view that there’s no room for failure for disabled artists. This is supported by the Creative Access Disability Survey Results, emphasising the worrying difference in career confidence and optimism among disabled, d/Deaf, and neurodivergent respondents.