Sensing Art and Music - sam

In September 2000, the Scottish Arts Council awarded us a grant of £178,362 towards the cost of an inclusive three-year project developing the arts and the senses. The sam project aimed to extend the scope of our existing arts work and reach more people, taking activities to people in our services in Dundee, Fife, Perth and Angus, as well as to those living in the west. It also aimed to offer opportunities to those who had never been involved in arts activities before and to use the arts to encourage creative expression and develop communication skills; and to have a positive impact on people's health.

In addition, the project wanted to provide opportunities for professional artists to develop their skills in working with disabled people and generally to raise awareness about deafblindness and sensory impairment - challenging people's perceptions about the creative abilities of people with complex support needs.

Work relating to the delivery of the sam project came to an end in March 2004, and the project was a huge success. Over its 3-year duration the sam project:

• Offered opportunities to participate in the arts to 178 individual with complex support needs
• Provided full-time, part-time and sessional contracts to 18 artists
• Provided placement opportunities to 15 students
• Publicly presented artwork at Glasgow's CCA, the Winter Gardens, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Dundee's DCA
• Provided taster sessions and ongoing workshops for individuals from 15 external agencies
• Supported a small number of individuals to access arts activities in their local community
• Gathered evidence that clearly shows people with sensory impairments have enjoyed the arts activities they have been involved in; that they have developed in terms of their confidence, self esteem, social and communication skills; and that collaborative projects were important in helping them to develop friendships.
• Increased the credibility and capacity of Sense Scotland':s arts programme
• Created a permanent Art Tutor post in the East of Scotland
• Enabled the development of international arts work and successfully secured European funding for new work on the back of the success of the sam project.
• Extended the arts programme to link with the work of our Healthy Living Project and to develop the role of the arts within health
• Linked with our Practice Development Department to contribute to current research and to use the arts to enhance programmes of staff training.

To find out more about sam follow our suggested links:

sam conferences

For more information on how to access sam contact: