Accessible for Everyone? -  A Creative Provocation

Co-founder of Jack of Hearts, an arts organisation based in Hartlepool, Vicky Jackson ponders the notion that the arts are there for all to engage with and enjoy.

"We often say we want to make the arts 'accessible to everyone'. It’s a noble aim, one you’ll find on many an organisation’s website, including our own. But what does it actually mean? Who gets to decide? Can it ever be fully true?

Accessibility isn’t just a ramp or a free ticket. It’s not a box to tick. It’s listening. It’s flexibility. And sometimes, it’s radically rethinking how and where art happens.

In a town like Hartlepool, accessibility can mean bringing the arts to people where they are; physically, emotionally, financially. It might mean making space in a pub, a park or a youth centre. It could mean offering a workshop where no one feels 'stupid' for not knowing where to start. It can mean allowing time for someone to feel comfortable with an idea.

For many, the idea of ‘doing art’ is already uncomfortable - associated with school stress, exam failure, or a sense that it’s simply 'not for people like us'.

The truth is, what’s accessible to one person might be a barrier to another. A calm and quiet space might soothe one person, but exclude another. A gallery could inspire you and intimidate me. So we start by asking, not assuming. What would help you take part? What would make you stay?

As artists and educators, we’ve seen firsthand how the erosion of arts in schools reinforces the idea that creativity is a luxury. Imagination isn’t extra. It’s survival. It’s resistance. It’s joy. It’s needed and it’s necessary.

So we’re challenging ourselves: not to assume we know what people need, but to build practices where asking is the first step. It’s not easy, but if we’re serious about 'arts for everyone', we have to keep asking - who’s not here yet? And why?

It’s a start. Not a slogan."