Disabled Creatives
This is a space to share the talent that speaks to our souls, challenges us, kicks us in the butt, fills our hearts, makes us laugh, brings us to tears, angers us, pushes us forward or makes us stand still and just be. “Arts and culture make considerable and necessary contributions to the well-being of communities. Arts and culture are powerful tools with which to engage communities in various levels of change. They are a means to public dialogue, contribute to the development of a community’s creative learning, create healthy communities capable of action, provide a powerful tool for community mobilization and activism, and help build community capacity and leadership.” Creative City Network of Canada. During a discussion with (disabled activist, writer, editor, media maker, and consultant) Alice Wong, (artist, writer and curator) Riva Lehrer discussed the relationship she has with those she captures in her portraits and stated “…a portrait, at best, is only a physical proof of a relationship, that the best portraits are really the relationship between the two people and if they were changed. A great portrait should change both people. They should understand themselves, understand what it means to be the other, and really invest in that…” We want to showcase disabled creatives and the art that moves us. What moves you? We look forward to hearing from you.
Please Note: we may include our names on these pages, everyone else will be identified as “Contributor” or “Peer” unless express permission has been given. If you have any comments or feedback on anything posted, please contact us.
Call Out: Who coined the term “Disabled Creative”? If you have the answer to this, please contact us.
Subject: Care During COVID: Photo Essay on Interdependence
Posted: June 9th, 2023
Care During COVID: Photo Essay on Interdependence
Melanie: If you have not checked out the Disability Visibility Project (DVP), I encourage you to explore the site by clicking HERE. The founder and director Alice Wong (she/her) is a disabled activist, writer, editor, media maker, and consultant (taken from the About page). While exploring the site I came across “Care During COVID: Photo Essay on Interdependence” by Marley Molkentin and Kennedy Healy (click on link at bottom of post). The power of images and words and the importance of connection. You can also check out Kennedy's website Crip Crap, by clicking HERE.
Marley & Kennedy: The lack of awareness and media representation of formalized in-home care during and before the pandemic led us to create this project. We share it in the context of a global pandemic that continues to cause great suffering to many underrepresented groups. This is the story of two people with relative privilege, told in solidarity with all those discarded and forgotten by the state.
Subject: Henry Fraser Art
Posted: June 8th, 2023
Henry Fraser Art
Melanie: I found Henry Fraser's website in February of 2022, and I am just getting it posted now. I did not keep any notes on how I came across the site. Oooops. So, if someone shared it with me, please remind me so I can say thanks. Now that our accessibility renovations are complete, we are looking for some cool art. I am enamoured with “Turquoise Rabbit" and Wallace is fond of "Magenta Ostrich”… we may have to consider both.
Henry: As a young child I loved art. But as I grew up I fell out of love with the subject. I lost all my enthusiasm to create. Without my accident I never would have found that love I had as a kid. Adversity has given me a gift.
Subject: Hand Cut Company
Posted: June 8th, 2023
Hand Cut Company
Wallace & Melanie: Our kick-ass friend Adam (he/they) not only creates wicked merch, they also promote other disabled/neourodivergent creatives on their Hand Cut Company site. Check it out by clicking on the link below! Also see our post on Adam's site DNA -SWO.
Subject: DNA-SWO
Posted: June 8th, 2023
DNA-SWO
Wallace & Melanie: The disability community is filled with very cool people doing really cool things. Our friend Adam (he/they) is one of them. The Disability and Neurodiversity Alliance (DNA) of Southwestern Ontario (SWO) was created to give space for community to share. Check it out by clicking the link below! Also see our post on Adam's Hand Cut Company.
DNA-SWO: The Disability and Neurodiversity Alliance (DNA) of Southwestern Ontario (SWO) was created to build a community of individuals who identify as autistic, d/Deaf, disabled, mad, neurodivergent, and/or as having a chronic illness, disability, long-term condition, or mental illness. Or more simply put, anyone who does not identify as non disabled, though with this being an alliance they are welcome to join us as allies.
Subject: TATE: Disability and Art
Posted: April 11, 2022
TATE: Disability and Art
Melanie: Another page to explore.
TATE: This page was created with the help of staff and volunteers from Tate’s disABILITY Network. Our network promotes the social model of disability, proposing that people would not be disabled in a social structure that is designed for everyone’s needs
Subject: Sins Invalid
Posted: April 11, 2022
Sins Invalid
Melanie: I have just started exploring this site. So much to learn. I love that one of the main menu options is EDUCATION. That's what I am working on... educating myself and challenging my ableism. They have provided a curriculum "to help guide your political development".
Sins Invalid: Sins Invalid is a disability justice based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and LGBTQ / gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized. Led by disabled people of color, Sins Invalid’s performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body, developing provocative work where paradigms of “normal” and “sexy” are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all bodies and communities.
Subject: Riva Lehrer
Posted: April 11, 2022
Riva Lehrer
Melanie: I am currently listening to Riva Lehrer's book Golem Girl. I acknowledge my privileged at being able to purchase an audio version along with a physical copy of the book. I find it hard to read for extended periods of time, so audio-books have brought me back to reading. The physical copy means I can readily go back to a bit that I want to share or reread... AND it comes with Riva's art. When I experience her work I feel grounded and connected to the earth. It is honest and beautiful. So many stories and so many connections.
Bio: Riva Lehrer is an artist, writer and curator who focuses on the socially challenged body. She is best known for representations of people whose physical embodiment, sexuality, or gender identity have long been stigmatized. Ms. Lehrer’s work has been seen in venues including the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian, Yale University, the United Nations, the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, the Arnot Museum, the DeCordova Museum, the Frye Museum, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the State of Illinois Museum. Awards include the 2017 3Arts MacDowell Fellowship for writing, 2015 3Arts Residency Fellowship at the University of Illinois; the 2014 Carnegie Mellon Fellowship at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges; the 2009 Prairie Fellowship at the Ragdale Foundation. Grants include the 2009 Critical Fierceness Grant, the 2008 3Arts Foundation Grant, and the 2006 Wynn Newhouse Award for Excellence, (NYC), as well as grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the University of Illinois, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her memoir, Golem Girl, will be published by the One World imprint of Penguin/Random House in October 2020. Ms. Lehrer is represented by Regal Hoffman & Associates literary agency, NYC. Ms. Lehrer is on faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and instructor in the Medical Humanities Departments of Northwestern University.
Subject: Tangled Art + Disability
Posted: April 11, 2022
Tangled Art + Disability
Melanie: We are only an hour away from Toronto. I look forward to visiting this gallery soon with Wallace.
Tangled Art & Disability: A site of political engagement for disability arts and culture. Our artists and artwork all come from the many disability communities that exist. Disability Arts and culture wants to dwell with disability rather than attempt to eliminate it. Tangled is making and changing culture in felt, not-fully knowable ways, by showcasing Disability Arts and advancing what we call ‘crip cultural practices’: that is, accessible programming and practices born out of and centring the disability community.
Subject: Canadian Art article: 8 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Art and Disability by Leah Sandals
Posted: April 11, 2022
Canadian Art article: 8 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Art and Disability by Leah Sandals
Melanie: Now I know. But I suspect it's the tip of the iceberg…
Article: Disabled people aren’t just audiences—they are artists and creators, too. When asked what still bothers her most about the way disability is treated in the wider artworld, Chandler says it’s the idea that improving accessibility only relates to disabled people as audiences. “Typically when galleries and theatres think about including disabled people, it is as an audience,” Chandler says. “Thinking about how to have wheelchair users in your audience is different than thinking about how we might include disabled people as producers of culture—as performers and artists and musicians.” Chandler notes that, on the upside, there is increasing interest from museums and other organizations about improving accessibility—but it needs that crucial shift in perspective. “While there is this big push to make things accessible, I think it is quite focused on audience more than artwork.”
Subject: Disability Visibility Project (DVP)
Posted: April 11, 2022
Disability Visibility Project (DVP)
Melanie: This is a great site to check out. I just finished the audio version of Disability Visibility, an anthology edited by Alice Wong. We also picked up a hard copy of the book to reference. There is no singular disability experience. It is important to learn about the varied experiences of people, to keep challenging our perceptions and our ableism.
Disability Visibility Project: The Disability Visibility Project is an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture. Alice Wong is a disabled activist, media maker, and consultant based in San Francisco. She is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing and amplifying disability media and culture. You can find her on Twitter: @SFdirewolf
Subject: Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital's (HBKRH) Art Exhibition: Illuminating a Hidden Narrative
Posted: January 22, 2022
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital's (HBKRH) Art Exhibition: Illuminating a Hidden Narrative
Melanie: So often the arts are dismissed - silenced - defunded. When that happens, disabled creatives are dismissed - silenced - and their work goes unpaid. When we do not make space for the arts we suffer the consequences, individually and as a society. The arts are a way for us to express ourselves, to tell our truths, to illuminate social issues, to offer up solutions, to share, to invite, to instigate, to rectify... to... to... to. We need to know how young people with disabilities “feel about navigating their sexuality in healthcare settings.” Forget the quantitative survey measures, the comment card entries, the graphs and charts. We need to FEEL this experience.
Subject: Disability Futures Virtual Festival 2021
Posted: January 22, 2022
Disability Futures Virtual Festival 2021
Melanie: My sister Meagan sent me a link to the Disability Futures Virtual Festival (DFVF) on July 19th, 2021 - the day it started, so I was unable to attend. I saved the link, telling myself I would get back to it to learn more. The months passed. I am trying to slooooow down... and to take the time to investigate. Sometimes we are so focused on producing that we forget to stop and fill up. So this is me... stopping to fill up by watching the recorded sessions that took place last summer. Over the course of the last week, I watched them and oh my goodness. I messaged Meagan to thank her. She wrote back "Tell me your thoughts". You know when you're so "in" something and it is hard to find the language to describe it because you are still exeriencing it? So it took me a moment. I said the simplest way to decsibe how I felt was "I remembered what I forgot". I had forgotten how deep my passion is for the art created by others and for the art that I create. The last few years have been a re-wakening for me. This is one more piece that helps me make sense of the world and encourages me to move forward - in my time and and in my way. So thank you sweet sister Meagan!
Festival Sessions: Disabled Ancestries, Spaces, Histories and Stories. Disability Prtraiture. Bodies of Wisdom: Disability Justice X Climate Justice. Choosing Ourselves and Each Other: Queer Disabled Legacies, Desires and Dreams. Description, Language and Access. A More Inclusive Community - The Power and Presence of Indigenous Disabled Stories. Memorial To Things We Don't Know.
Disability Futures: The Disability Futures virtual festival was guided by the Disability Futures fellows and seeks to present their ideas and artistry on their terms.Participating fellows include: Alice Sheppard, Alice Wong, Christine Sun Kim, Eli Claire, Jeffrey Yasuo Mansfield, Jen Deerinwater, Jerron Herman, Jim Lebrecht, John Lee Clark, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Mia Mingus, Navild Acosta, Patty Berne, Perel, Riva Lehrer, Rodney Evans, Ryan J. Haddad and Sky Cubacub.It was produced by Ford Foundation, in partnership with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and United States Artists. We are incredibly grateful to each team member's contributions.
Darren Walker (President, Ford Foundation): I hope this festival will help deepen your awareness of current and emerging practices and content. Your engagement and support of disabled creatives and collaboration across artistic and disability communities is needed.