The Secret's Out: How Deaf and disabled artists working outdoors can build on the successes of 2012

On November 20th 2012, Emergency Exit Arts and Shape put together The Secret’s OUT! at Stratford Circus, an action day looking at Deaf and disabled artists’ contribution to outdoor arts. The day was the culmination of Diversifying Outdoor Arts, a strategic project supported by the Arts Council. This report captures the main discussions and themes of the day: it serves not just as an account, but also as a signpost for the future. There was a unique flowering of disability arts in 2012, largely boosted by the additional resources and aspirations of the London Paralympic Games and Cultural Olympiad. The extraordinary global impact of the UK’s disability arts scene in 2012 (over 1 billion people saw the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics) did not emerge from a standing start, but resulted from years of development by grass roots arts organisations, significant investment and strategic support from Arts Council England and the passion and vision of individual artists.