The Civic
THE Way Ahead
In 2004, disabled artist Caroline Cardus made a fine art protest piece based on UK road signs called The Way Ahead. Each sign was made to represent the ideas surrounding disability access or attitudes that disabled people wanted to change.
The Way Ahead has toured widely across the UK and is in regular demand as a disability art protest piece.
Activism by disabled people through direct action has historically been the reason access, rights and awareness have improved.
Taking inspiration from the original exhibition, in Spring 2021 Cardus collaborated with four local disabled groups to amplify the voices and highlight the experiences of disabled people in the community.
The four groups that collaborated with Caroline on a new piece of public artwork “The Barnsley 15” are ArtWorks South Yorkshire, Barnsley SEND Youth Forum, My Barnsley Too and Wednesday’s Voice (part of Cloverleaf Advocacy).
This project was part of national scheme Here and Now and was meant to take place in 2020; due to the pandemic, it was rescheduled until 2021. Once we realised that face-to-face workshops were not going to be possible until late 2021, and individual group members were facing barriers due to access to technology and/or location, Caroline devised a poster worksheet that could be mailed out to participants. She also created a simple video in which she introduced the project and walked the viewer through the worksheet.
75 individuals took part in the remote workshops, with 35 road sign ideas submitted. Caroline worked with these designs to shortlist and re-design the final selection. The Barnsley 15 was installed in Mandela Gardens (S70 2HZ) in June 2021, officially launched in September 2021.
Below you can download the worksheet and Included below is the workshop video, followed by the worksheet which you can download and three images which show the process of turning one person’s road-sign idea into a final fully fabricated road-sign.
Following that is a video tour of the final artwork, complete with audio commentary by Caroline Cardus.
CAROLINE EXPLAINS HOW TO USE THE ROAD-SIGN WORKSHEETS
download your own road-sign worksheets BELOW
Once you click download it will open the worksheet, click on the arrow at the top right of the screen and it will give you the option to download or share on social media.
A VIDEO TOUR OF THE BARNSLEY 15 WITH AUDIO COMMENTARY BY CAROLINE
This project was part of Here & Now, a national and local celebration of culture within communities. The project is supported by Arts Council England and Future arts Centre, marking The National Lottery’s 25th birthday.
You can find out more about Caroline’s work on her website www.carolinecardusartist.com and follow her on Instagram and Twitter.