GMIT gives a Gateway to students with disabilities

Six adults with a diverse range of disabilities took part in a new initiative, The Gateway Project, at the Centre for the Creative Art and Media (CCAM) at GMIT last week.

Staff and students at GMIT facilitated the group as they participated in a scheduled, inclusive and practice-based art course.

The six participants engaged with a practical, ceramic and paint programme similar to those undertaken by students in the GMIT degree-based programme. They also ‘buddied up’ with six selected art students who had expressed an interest in working alongside disabled people. And the Gateway students were invited to sit in a working classroom situation throughout the CCAM Art and Film programmes.

The six received a participation certificate after finishing the two-day course. They also gave feedback on their experience, displayed their work and explored new ideas that will lead towards further, similar initiatives.

The Gateway Project demonstrated GMIT’s ambition to offer socially inclusive projects within the college, according to Rob D’Eath of the institute’s CCAM.

One potential outcome of the pilot sheme would be a poetntial GMIT award for people with disabilities, he added.

This pilot course was the first of its kind to take place in the CCAM, GMIT, and its success should pave the way for further inclusive and extensive programmes, according to   the ceramicist and GMIT lecturer.

The GMIT ran last week’s  course in collaboration with Rehabcare Galway and the Brothers of Charity Services.