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Challenging Notions: Accessibility and the Arts

American Artscape | 2015 No. 1
Cover of NEA Arts No 1 2015
Tape Construction #3 (2014) by Stephen Proski, a visually impaired artist living in Kansas City, Missouri. Proski uses pieces of tape and collage to create a textured approach to painting. Image courtesy of Stephen Proski
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About this Issue

When the milestone Americans with Disabilities Act was passed on July 26, 1990, individuals with disabilities were guaranteed equal access to social realms that most of us take for granted: employment, public transportation, and commercial facilities such as shopping malls, restaurants, and hotels.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the law’s passage, this issue highlights organizations and individuals that capture the spirit of the law by making art accessible to every American—something the NEA supports and strives to achieve. We explore how museums bring visual art to those with limited sight, and how the Matheny Medical and Educational Center enables people with severe disabilities to create their own masterpieces. We also look at how acclaimed architect Michael Graves used his own disability to transform healthcare design, how theater can build confidence in children who stutter, and how the inaugural DisArt Festival is challenging people’s notions of what it means—and doesn’t mean—to be an artist with a disability.

According to our new Arts Data Profile #7, the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts showed that the nearly 28 million U.S. adults, or 12 percent of the adult population, who have some type of disability were equally likely as all adults to have engaged in some forms of arts participation, such as creating visual arts, doing creative writing, or consuming art via electronic media. Not every mind or body will experience art the same way. But every mind and body is entitled to the experience.
 

Included in this Issue

Gold car hanging from ceiling in museum.

Imagining What Disability Actually Is

The DisArt Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Man pointing to colors for man in wheelchair to choose.

Another Set of Hands

Matheny Medical and Educational Center's Arts Access Program
Michael Graves sitting with book in hands.

Solutions to Change People's Lives

Michael Graves' Legacy
Boy in astronaut suit in front of photo of the moon.

Confident Voices Take Center Stage

Stuttering Association for the Young's Theater Program
Sculptures in a museum.

Touch and See

Accessibility Programs for People with Vision Impairments at the Art Institute of Chicago
Sidiki relishes music and dance. Photo by Michael Stewart.

Sidiki Conde: You Don't Need Feet to Dance

Video Available
Artwork made up of collages of colored paper.

Collaging Color

The Artwork of Stephen Proski
Video Available
Man holding a sign.

Listen to His Hands

Deaf Hip-Hop Artist Sean Forbes
Video Available

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