BURSTING The Speech Bubble is the latest project to bring together the imagination of York arts innovator Greg McGee, his charity New Visuality, his gallery According To McGee and the city's disadvantaged voices.

"Inclusivity needs to be so much more than a buzz word," says the charity director. "More than ever York now has a multitude of stories. What better way than digital transformation to ensure that those storytellers we haven't heard that much from can take centre stage?

"For seven years, New Visuality has provided innovative experiences for disadvantaged groups across York, including the homeless, refugees and young people with disabilities, and the latest has been launched under the auspices of the gallery in Tower Street that I co-direct with my wife Ails".

York Press:

Greg McGee, The Print Project and Blueberry Academy learners

The project has had a "phenomenal start". "We're working with a range of groups across York. We took a young group of wheelchair users to Middlesbrough's mima gallery over half term and we've been working with learners at York's Blueberry Academy," says Greg.

"Because it's been a complex project from the get-go, Ails and I have stepped up our game and we've been humbled by the quality of the work, both from the participants and from the professional artists."

Funded by Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts, Bursting The Speech Bubble "provides platforms for the thoughts, opinions and aspirations of groups of young people traditionally excluded from city-wide conversations due to their perceived vulnerability," says Greg. "So I've worked with a range of young people across the city in collaboration with City of York Council and schools in Acomb, as well as the Blueberry Academy."

York Press:

Blueberry Academy learner Pearl Milnes

What does Bursting The Speech Bubble involve? "The idea is to create a space in a narrative, or in this case a 'speech bubble' in a comic strip, and populate it with aspirational thoughts and slogans created from algorithms built into York Explore's Platform46, a multi-touch coffee table," Greg starts to explain.

It sounds complicated. "That's because it is!" acknowledges Greg. "However, the really great thing is the calibre of our partners, who make it run so smoothly. Tim Waudby, of York Council's Shine, is mega-committed to providing excellent experiences for hard-to-reach young people, and the Blueberry Academy is going from strength to strength."

The initial sessions have seen Greg and Ails work with 75 young people, and the comic strip is a strong block on which to build the project. "All strips are based on local places. It's really about handing the history of a community to a group of young people and asking them to inject their own aspirations into it," he says.

York Press:

A letterpress print from the Bursting The Speech Bubble exhibition

"So, on the one hand, you get artwork and a basic story from a young person from Tang Hall, and then that strip is handed over to a young person with a learning difficulty at the Blueberry Academy who adds some colour or speech in the bubbles, and then it's refined by a professional artist. Then we print and exhibit it!

"But we're a far way from leaving it at that. The innovation in using Platform46 is spectacular, and is the most popular part of the project. So we're working with University of York's Digital Creativity Lab to research creating an app that allows young people to collaboratively create comics strips away from the art studio.

"Imagine that? In between sessions and long after the project has finished, young people across the city will be able to fill in each other's characters, their expressions, their speech bubbles. In that sense, creativity becomes a game."

York Press:

Co-directors Ails and Greg McGee during According To McGee's Illuminating York festival show

For now however, the first phase of Bursting The Speech Bubble will run at According To McGee until November 8, presenting an exhibition of letterpress posters created by Blueberry Academy learners via Shipley's The Print Project. "The posters are witty, collectible and beautiful and are available to buy from the gallery," says Greg.

Blueberry Academy principal Katie Ireland enthuses: "We're grateful to be involved in this project. The Blueberry Academy delivers personalised learning programmes for young people who are 16 to 25 years old, supporting them towards developing independence and employment skills.

"Making all kinds of art can build self-esteem but this form of simple printmaking gives these young people the chance to present a message which is important to them and to work alongside professional artists. The finished product looks fantastic and learners get a huge sense of pride from sharing their work with the public and seeing their work exhibited."

Not only are the posters being exhibited on the gallery walls but the slogans and footage from the workshops were projected on to Clifford's Tower from According To McGee's window during last week's Illuminating York festival.

This is not the first time the gallery has featured work from young people with disabilities during the light festival but it is the most ambitious project yet, involving work by 75 learners that has been edited and displayed with the aid of cutting-edge software. "We worked hard on creating the most immersive experience possible," says light installation artist Nick Walters, "To do this with the work of young people with learning difficulties at its core has been one of the most gratifying things I've ever done."

Ails McGee concurs: "For too long those with the loudest voices have ranted how they see the modern world, but the 'speech bubble' is a great leveller, and the fact that we're handing over this project to our supposedly most vulnerable citizens, using innovative, inclusive technology is game changing. I passionately believe that this is good for all of us. Bursting a speech bubble, and handing it over to as many young people as possible, will make York a happier, richer place."

Gallery opening times are Monday to Friday, 11am to 5pm, and Saturday, 10am to 5pm.