About
The Outsiders Project started with one piece of work made for BEAF Festival. Nell Leyshon worked with four artists who had previously attended her writing workshops, and created a site specific story-telling show with words and music. Each word was written, spoken and performed by the outsider artists themselves – their stories, their words, their voices.
From this we have built an organisation around the artists we work with. Our role is to support our artists so that we give them a voice. They in turn give other people their voice.
We focus on working with the unheard and marginalised members of the community of Boscombe, and the work is shown locally then shared with a wider world. The work is in whatever art form the artist chooses, and is always authentic and of exceptional quality.
In March 2019 we built a rough scaffolding theatre within a derelict 40,000 sq. foot shop in Boscombe. Capacity is 100 and 70% of our audience are first time arts events attenders: inclusion is for artists and audiences. We also built a gallery, a pop-up cinema and a recording studio.
We run weekly workshops in both creative writing and photography, and host regular scratch events to support our artists- helping them find their voices and creating a welcoming creative community.
“The Outsiders Project is a genuine route into writing and performing for people who wouldn’t otherwise find their way into it. It’s a magic world for a lot of people. Especially people who’ve had tough lives. Lives out of the arts. Outside the enchanted wall. The Outsiders Project is about breaking the spell. Smashing down the wall.” Damian Le Bas, writer of The Stopping Places, A Journey Through Gypsy Britain
The Outsiders Project is a BEAF ARTS CO project funded by:
Arts Council England, Lottery Community Fund, People’s Health Trust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Alpine Fellowship, Sovereign Centre, Talbot Village Trust, Recreate Dorset, Artful Scribe and Literature Works.
