Arts & Culture Project
Disability Culture is an international movement that includes visual art, music, dance, theater, literature and sports. Access Living’s Headquarters, located in downtown Chicago and with community and event space, gave Access Living the opportunity to launch an Arts & Culture Project. The project started in 2007. The project is designed to raise awareness around disability arts, community and culture, and to give voice to artists with disabilities.
The Disability Arts & Culture Project includes event programming and a Permanent Collection.
Arts & Culture Events include poetry readings, dance performances, musical performances, cultural presentations, and community discussions. For information on upcoming events, check out the Arts and Culture Calendar.
The Permanent Collection at Access Living is unique; comprised of art by professional artists with disabilities, as well as work by non-disabled artists who have made disability a central focus of their investigations. Below are bios of artists included in Access Living’s permanent collection.
Also, in 2013, Access Living is a partner in Bodies of Work, an 11-Day Festival featuring visual and performing arts that highlight the work of artists with disabilities.
The Disability Arts & Culture Project includes event programming and a Permanent Collection.
Arts & Culture Events include poetry readings, dance performances, musical performances, cultural presentations, and community discussions. For information on upcoming events, check out the Arts and Culture Calendar.
The Permanent Collection at Access Living is unique; comprised of art by professional artists with disabilities, as well as work by non-disabled artists who have made disability a central focus of their investigations. Below are bios of artists included in Access Living’s permanent collection.
Also, in 2013, Access Living is a partner in Bodies of Work, an 11-Day Festival featuring visual and performing arts that highlight the work of artists with disabilities.
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.Read More
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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.Read More
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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.Read More
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Dale ChihulyDale Chihuly revolutionized the Studio Glass movement through the practice of using teams, rather than acting as a solitary artist alone in a studio.Read More |
David BlaisdellIn addition to his talents as a visual artist, David Blaisdell (b. 1949, Chicago, IL) is also a prolific poet and the author of four novels (as yet unpublished). His drawings range from reverent portraits—of beautiful women and the Russian writer Boris Pasternak—to abstracted compositions dense with hidden meaning.Read More
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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.Read More
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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.Read More
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Elizabeth ErnstElizabeth Ernst (b. 1950, Buffalo, NY) is clearly interested in issues of visible difference—an interest with a deeply personal origin. Her mixed-media work, such as “The G. E. Circus,” is filled with half-human creatures and all manner of “freaks.” In it, Ernst tackles the complicated emotions of being the younger sister of a brother born in 1948 with cerebral palsy.Read More
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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.Read More
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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.Read More
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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.Read More
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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. Read More
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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. Read More
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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. Read More
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Katie DallamKatie Dallam (b. 1959, Columbia, MO) received a BFA in 1983 and an MA in psychology from the University of Missouri. She made art and worked as a counselor for people with severe drug and alcohol problems until 1996, when she became permanently disabled due to a brain injury sustained during a boxing match. Solo shows include: “Shadowboxing: 20 Year Retrospective Solo Exhibition,” at The Urban Culture Project in Kansas City, MO (2005); “Before and After,” at the Johnson County Community College Student Gallery in Overland Park, KS (2005).Read More
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Katie MillerKatie Miller was born in New Hampshire in 1984, and grew up in Boca Raton, Florida and suburban Sacramento, California. At five, she decided to become an artist and then taught herself to draw. During adolescence, Miller created her first independent body of work and began to study art history. She works full time as an artist and is represented by Conner Contemporary Art in Washington, DC.Read More
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Laura FergusonLaura Ferguson (b. 1947, New York City) is a New York artist who explores the connections between art and medicine through the imagery of her own body. Her interest in anatomy comes out of her own experience of scoliosis, a deformity of the spine. She began by making drawings from her own X-rays. As her interest grew, she took a scientifically rigorous approach to the depiction of anatomical structures,Read More
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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.Read More
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Mat FraserMat Fraser is a U.K.-based writer, actor, musician, and performance artist with his own production company, Phocomedia Productions. His theater work, performed both nationally and internationally, includes Thalidomide! A Musical, Sealboy: Freak, and The Flid Show. Films include Every Time You Look at Me, Helen of Troy, Born Freak, Unarmed and Dangerous, and Happy Birthday Thalidomide.Read More
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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.Read More
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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).Read More
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Susan DuporSusan Dupor’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions, including the national touring exhibition “Elements of a Culture: Visions by Deaf Artists.” She was awarded the 2004 Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship, and her works were displayed at the James Watrous Gallery at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. Read More
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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.Read More
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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.Read More
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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. Read More
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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.Read More
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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.Read More
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“I can not see you but I know you are staring at me”Support this Artwork by E. Brooke LanierLanier’s “eye art” played a great role in helping her process the experience of an artist going blind. She characterizes her artistic method as “very laborious and methodical, qualities that lead to a meditative state of mind.Read More
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“We Put The Hospital In Hospitality”Support this Artwork by E. Brooke LanierLanier’s “eye art” played a great role in helping her process the experience of an artist going blind. She characterizes her artistic method as “very laborious and methodical, qualities that lead to a meditative state of mind.Read More
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Bird LadySupport this Artwork by Elizabeth ErnstThe “Bird Lady” is a part of “The G. E. Circus,” which combines Ernst’s skill at photographic storytelling with her love of sculpture.Read More
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BulldogSupport this Artwork by George ZunigaEven in a work as benign as this portrait of a bulldog, Zuniga’s work has a monumental scale and presence that ties it to his more difficult images (of war, struggle, and politics).Read More
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Citrine MRISupport this Artwork by Jessica KincaidYet some artists find the brilliant colors and mysterious shadows of radiology to have both meaning and aesthetic content. Kincaid was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1991...Read More
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COCOON (ROUND)Support this Artwork by Terrence KarpowiczKarpowicz’s work revolves around his ability to create effects through refined material knowledge. This knowledge has been intensified by his daily life with a prosthetic leg, a result of a traffic accident...Read More
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Cocoon (square)Support this Artwork by Terrence KarpowiczThe “Cocoons” are illusions—they look like bronze, caught halfway between pure geometry and mutating biology. In truth, they are made of cloth stretched over a wooden frame...Read More
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Elizabeth’s PsycheSupport this Artwork by Terrence KarpowiczKarpowicz works in the heaviest and lightest of materials. His interest in precision, balance, and fine craftsmanship underpins work as massive as “Elizabeth’s Psyche” and as light as the “Cocoons”...Read More
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GlennSupport this Artwork by Gordon SasakiAt first glance, Glenn resembles a movie monster with his stiff arms and dark-shadowed eyes, as he stands in the center of Saint John the Divine...Read More
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Lefty (Self Portrait)Support this Artwork by Anne WeitzeWeitze’s embroidery uses many of the colors and techniques of traditional domestic craftwork—but the sneaky, subversive humor is far from what one can find on a “Home Sweet Home” pillow.Read More
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My MasterSupport this Artwork by Katie DallamDallam’s paintings of demons, skeletons, and monsters explore her experience of her own brain. In “My Master” fear and alienation are made visible. The figure is constructed of multicolored snakes twining together to make the shape of a woman’s body...Read More
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Queen of LoveSupport this Artwork by Hollis Sigler“The Queen of Love” shows a goddess flying above her wheelchair. The queen unfolds into an endless sky as a butterfly from a chrysalis.Read More
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Reclining Figure with Visible SkeletonSupport this Artwork by Laura FergusonReclining Figure with Visible Skeleton.” Thinned oil paints, blended with bronze powders, are sprinkled onto the water’s surface, where they spread out into patterns. The floating image is transferred to paper, and the process is repeated as many as 20 or 30 times...Read More
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RevealedSupport this Artwork by Jon WosIn “Revealed” Wos lies in bed in a full-body cast. He holds an X-ray over the site of the break in his leg, showing the injury that is the reason for his immobility...Read More
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Revival of the DeerSupport this Artwork by Susan DuporIn “Revival of the Deer” a woman crouches in a winter wood, amid bare brown trees that mimic the form of antlers—and hands...Read More
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Royal Gem MRISupport this Artwork by Jessica KincaidThe lesions of epilepsy show up as bright islands or small stars in the sky. Kincaid depicts her brain as full of luscious waves of color and light—jewel-like portraits of an individual mind.Read More
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Self Portrait Support this Artwork by Blake LenoirIn Lenoir’s “Self Portrait,” animals from every continent play and sleep among undulating sweeps of river and forest. Each creature is a tiny portrait; many look back at the viewer as if pleading for recognition.Read More
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Self Portrait with Smoking MirrorSupport this Artwork by Marcos Raya“Self Portrait with Smoking Mirror” is constructed as an icon. The mirror’s reflection is a robotic, mask-like skull, behind which is a fiery night sky.Read More
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The Elephant ManSupport this Artwork by Elizabeth ErnstThe Elephant Man is a part of “The G. E. Circus,” which combines Ernst’s skill at photographic storytelling with her love of sculpture...Read More
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The First NestSupport this Artwork by William NewmanThe First Nest” was created after Newman installed a ship’s portal in his shower, in his rural Silver Springs home. Newman takes a long time to shower, and wanted something to look at while bathing. Birds eventually found this portal and built a nest in its shelter.Read More
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TigerSupport this Artwork by David BlaisdellThis tiger is so dense with color and energy that it’s barely contained on the paper. Its orange body arcs above a machine gun, under a large red heart and a black hand with its fingers spread...Read More
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Universal PatternSupport this Artwork by E. Brooke LanierLanier’s work has always alluded to medicine and science. However, it was not until her own retinal detachment at age 22 that her work began to directly refer to her disability.Read More
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ZazelSupport this Artwork by Gordon SasakiZazel is an actress, dancer, and model. She is photographed while rehearsing in the studio, leaning backward to face us with a direct but upside-down stare...Read More
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2013 Bodies of Work Festival In May of this year, Chicago will host the 11-day Bodies of Work Festival. Featuring visual and performing arts that highlight the work of artists with disabilities, the festival celebrates national and international artists with disabilities who are creating cutting-edge theater, dance, literature, poetry, spoken word, film, and visual/performance art. Read More
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Good Kings, Bad Kings The Chicago playwright Susan Nussbaum signs and reads from her first novel, Good Kings, Bad Kings,for which she received the 2012 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.Read More
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May 18, 2013 |
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Creative Movement Workshop A Creative Movement Workshop Read More
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May 14, 2013 |
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2013 Bodies of Work Festival In May of this year, Chicago will host the 11-day Bodies of Work Festival. Featuring visual and performing arts that highlight the work of artists with disabilities, the festival celebrates national and international artists with disabilities who are creating cutting-edge theater, dance, literature, poetry, spoken word, film, and visual/performance art. Read More
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May -- 2013 |
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