Arts & Culture Project

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Access Living is one of the most influential centers for disability advocacy and service in the United States. Our new headquarters, opened in 2007, has allowed us to establish a Disability Arts and Culture Program. Disability Culture is an international movement that includes visual art, music, dance, theater, literature and sports.

The Permanent Collection at Access Living is unique; comprised of art by professional artists with disabilities, as well as work by non-disabled artists whom have made disability a central focus of their investigations.
Title Date Listed
Full ImageBronze TrioTrioJude Conlon MartinConlon MartinMartinSculptureArts and CultureCulture
Jude Conlon MartinA Chicago native, Jude Conlon Martin received her Master’s in Fine Art/Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, writing her master’s thesis on “The Other” in images of disability. Martin did her internship at Access Living, and was an art therapist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. She then, along with Evelyn Rodriguez, ran the M&M Roll Model Mentoring Program for the Women with Disabilities Center at RIC. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallBulldogGeorge ZunigaZunigaPaintingIllustrationArts And CultureCulture
George ZunigaGeorge Zuniga’s bold compositions and swift strokes, rendered in pastel, charcoal, and pencil, are examples of “artism,” a term he coined to describe the work of an artist with autism. A self-taught expert on military armaments, television newscasters, Japanese anime and manga, and heavy-metal music, Zuniga (b. 1982, Chicago, IL) creates portraits that are brutally honest, calling to mind the unflinching eye of Goya. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallGloves (Orange)Gloves OrangeOrangeChun-Shan (Sandie) YiSandie YiYiTextiles/ PhotographyArts And CultureCulture
Chun-Shan (Sandie) YiChun-Shan (Sandie) Yi was born and raised in Taiwan. She received a BFA, and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She resides in Taiwan, working as an art therapist and helping establish disability culture in China. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedsmallRevealedJon WosWosPaintingArts And CultureCulture
Jon Woson Wos (b. 1981, Lena, WI) received a BFA from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2005. He has exhibited his art at venues throughout the United States and Canada, including the Chicago Cultural Center, the Kennedy Center, Reagan National Airport, and Toronto’s Joseph D. Carrier Gallery. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallPassion For ChristChristWinnifred Birts And Kenneth WilliamsBirts And WilliamsWinnifred BirtsBirtsKenneth WilliamsWilliamsPaintingArts And CultureCulture
Winnifred Birts And Kenneth WilliamsWinnifred Birts (b. 1953, Chicago, IL) makes detailed renderings that depict contemporary African-American urban culture in Chicago. Kenneth Williams (b. 1969, Chicago, IL) creates colorful and closely observed buildings, entirely from his imagination. Using various media he captures the busy lifestyle of the city. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallLefty (Self-Portrait)(Self-Portrait)Anne WeitzeWeitzeembroidery / textilesArts And CultureCulture
Anne WeitzeAnne Weitze's small-scale embroidery puts an ironic, contemporary spin on old-fashioned needlework. Her series "Treasures of Spam" uses the familiar tortured prose of spam email subject lines, rendered with delicate flourishes. The years Weitze spent in the advertising world inform another embroidery series illustrating corporate jargon, professional buzzwords, and other nonsense familiar to all beleaguered cubicle dwellers. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallQueen Of LoveHollis Sigler SiglerPaintingArts And CultureCulture
Hollis SiglerHollis Sigler (b. 1949, Gary, Indiana; d. 2001, Chicago, IL) received a BFA from Moore College of Art in 1970 and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1973. Her awards included those from the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She had solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., Susan Cummins Gallery in Mill Valley, CA, and Printworks Gallery, Dart Gallery, and Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago. 		Jul 18th, 2008
Embedded SmallZazelGordon SasakiSasakiPhotographyArts And CultureCulture
Gordon SasakiAs an artist and educator in universities, museums, schools, and private institutions, New York City-based Gordon Sasaki is a dedicated proponent of inclusion through the arts. His work is exhibited internationally and held in many private and corporate collections. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallThe Drunken ElfDrunken ElfElfDavid Richards Richards SculptureArts And CultureCulture
David RichardsDavid Richards (b. 1952, Springfield, MA) received an MFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1981 and has been teaching at the school since 1983 as an adjunct associate professor. His recent work can be described as mixed-media relief that playfully combines abstract forms with images that sometimes evoke childhood—with a slightly sinister twist. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallSelf Portrait With Smoking MirrorWith Smoking MirrorSmoking MirrorMarcos RayaRayaPaintingArts and CultureCulture
Marcos RayaMarcos Raya (b. 1948, Guanajuato, Mexico) came to Chicago in 1964. He is a pioneer of mural painting in Chicago. Existing murals include "Against the 3rd World War" at 18th Street and Western Avenue; “Community Horganization" at Casa Aztlan, 1831 S. Racine; and "Cataclism" at 2201 S. Halsted. Raya’s work was featured in the “Chicago Show” that inaugurated the new Museum of Contemporary Art. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallThe First NestFirst NestNestWilliam A. NewmanNewmanPaintingArts and CultureCulture
William A. NewmanWilliam A. Newman (b. 1948, Great Lakes, IL) is a professor at the Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington, D.C. He received his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his MFA from the University of Maryland. 		Jul 18th, 2008
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Katie MillerKatie Miller (b. 1984, New Hampshire) grew up in Florida and California. She graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007 with a BFA in painting and a minor in art history. Since graduating, she has moved to the D.C. metro area and started a portrait commission business. Miller plans to attend graduate school for painting. 		Jul 18th, 2008
DownloadFull ImageCriptography #2Neil MarcusMarcusPaintingArts and CultureCulture
Neil MarcusNeil Marcus (b. 1954, NY) is an internationally recognized central figure in the development of disability culture. As a writer, actor, dancer, philosopher, and visual artist he has had a profound impact on the thinking and lives of disabled people far and wide. 		Jul 18th, 2008
SmallWrappedTim LowlyLowlyPaintingArt
Tim LowlyThe son of medical missionaries, Tim Grubbs Lowly (b. 1958, Hendersonville, NC) spent most of his youth in South Korea. In 1981, he received a BFA degree from Calvin College. The same year he married Sherrie Rubingh. Their daughter Temma was born in 1985. 		Jul 18th, 2008
EmbeddedSmallBlake LenoirLenoirSelf PortraitPortraitPaintingArts and CultureCultureArt
Blake LenoirBlake Lenoir (b. 1984, Chicago, IL) renders the flora and fauna of his native Illinois with the same compulsive intensity he brings to drawing the endangered species of the Amazon basin. Filling the page with butterflies, insects, native grasses, flowering plants, tree-dwelling mammals, and birds with exotic plumage, Lenoir depicts the jungle (or the prairie) as a Wild Kingdom teeming with life of every sort. 		Jul 18th, 2008
Embedded Small ImageRiva LehrerLehrer
Riva LehrerRiva Lehrer (b. 1958, Cincinnati, OH) has lived and exhibited in Chicago since 1980. She has had solo exhibitions at the Lafayette Museum of Art, the Chicago Cultural Center, Susan Cummins Gallery (Mill Valley, CA), the University of Notre Dame, and A.I.R. Gallery (NY). 		Jul 18th, 2008
DownloadFull PictureUniversal Pattern E. Brooke LanierBrooke LanierLanierMulti MediaArt
E. Brooke LanierE. Brooke Lanier (b. 1983, Rochester, MN). She is a top award winner in the 2007 VSA “Driven” competition, exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. She recently was the subject of a profile in the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine. She holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 		Jul 18th, 2008
SmallJessica KincaidKincaidRoyal Gem MRIMRItextileArt
Jessica KincaidJessica Kincaid (b. 1970, Lexington, KY) received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1992 and an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2001. She also holds an advanced certificate in computer interactive media from Johnson County Community College. 		Jul 18th, 2008
Full PictureFullTerrence KarpowiczKarpowiczCocoon (Round)SculptureArt
Terrence KarpowiczTerrence Karpowicz (b. 1948, Cleveland, OH) received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Albion College in Michigan and then moved to New York City to pursue his career as an artist. In 1972, he became inspired to sculpt after assisting disabled artist Mark di Suvero with an installation. 		Jul 18th, 2008
Full PictureFullBath Time #4Tabata HideomiHideomiPhotographyArts and CultureArts
Tabata HideomiTabata Hideomi’s life was intercepted at infancy when he drank arsenic in adulterated baby formula, which produced profound neurological damage. His family was given $800 for this corporate malpractice. Instead of remaining sequestered in his family’s home and care, Hideomi moved to Kyoto, where he became active in the Center for Independent Living. 		Jul 18th, 2008
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Artes y cultura
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