Our 100 Portraits was led by Project Ability, a Glasgow-based visual arts organisation. The project aimed to identify the people who are important to Project Ability’s learning disabled artists, telling these stories through the power of portraiture.

Participant artists explored the genre through socially distanced sketches, Zoom sittings and photographs of loved ones.

Working with a social geographer, the artists gained insight into the history and development of portraiture. They looked at why portraits were painted, how to ‘read’ portraits and how to interact with their subjects, leading to producing their own portraits of their peers. 

Portraiture…is no longer a marker of status, but a way of exploring another person’s life and their unique story and how they matter and make a difference.
Valerie O’Regan, Project Ability tutor

Valerie O’Regan, a Project Ability tutor, said: “The result is an emotive, quirky and wonderful collection of our present time and of the people that we cherish, admire and love; the people that have shared this year with us, some from afar, others through live Zoom sketches, photographs and memories. 

"In more recent history, portraiture comes in unlimited forms and it is no longer a marker of status, but a way of exploring another person’s life and their unique story and how they matter and make a difference.”