Accessibility as a Creative Practice
Socially Distant Art Aims to Empower Artists to Create Accessible Art
There are several resources available for and by Arts and cultural institutions aimed at educating cultural workers, arts leaders, and curators on how to develop accessible exhibitions, public programming and organizational policies. Chiefly among them is "Vital Practices in the Arts" by Tangled Art + Disability and Carolyn Lazard’s “Accessibility in the Arts: A Promise and a Practice"; these guides outline accessibility recommendations aimed at small scale nonprofits and arts organizations. This is extremely valuable information to know for all professionals working in the arts - including artists.
However, aside from the brilliant work done by Disabled artists who are embedded in Disability culture, accessibility is very rarely considered by artists in the process of making artwork. Socially Distant Art aims to introduce artists, creators, and cultural leaders (at any career level) to accessibility practices and teach them how to situate those features within an arts context. The hope is that creators will begin to consider and integrate accessibility features within the foundation of their artwork and creative practice, instead of adding them at the end, or not at all. Additionally, since many arts leaders and curators still do not take accessibility seriously, artists have the opportunity to play a more active role in creating inclusive art spaces by ensuring their artwork is accessible from the start. Creators should consider this both a social justice oriented obligation and an enriching care-based process.
There are several established Disability related concepts that can be helpful to consider while building an accessible creative practice:
Access is a Process
Disabled People in the Arts: Creators, Cultural Workers, and Art Lovers
Iterative + Interdependent Art-making
Disability Language + Models
Disability Justice framework
Access Intimacy
Access is a Process
When it comes to accessibility the approach is often a "checkbox list” mainly based on logistics. While these aspects of accessibility are paramount to creating inclusive, equitable spaces, they are just an entry point. There's a commonly used phrase in the Disability community - Access is a Process. This has two intertwined meanings: Firstly, making accessible environments is never a "one and done" situation - it is always evolving, often with moments of friction that require nuanced situational solutions; and secondly, the acknowledgement that accessibility is complex, and if you don't get it perfect (or even near perfect) the first time, keep trying - through the work, creative and innovative solutions will be found.
As an artist who is possibly just starting to think about incorporating accessibility into your art practice, know that the process is just as important as the end result - and it is an enriching process that is founded in care. Disabled people are frequently excluded from spaces through the neglect to consider "non-normative" ways of embodiment and communication. As artists we have the opportunity to create artwork that is inclusive and equitable by integrating accessibility features into our work. We also have the skills and talent to incorporate accessibility creatively - beyond strictly a "checkbox" approach. Not only do Disabled people have the right to be included in the art world, they also deserve access to artistic experiences.
In an arts context, "Access in a process" speaks not only to the continued care-based process of developing accessible spaces, but also the creative process that can give birth to multisensory artworks based in Disability Aesthetics and Disability Justice.
Disabled People in the Arts: Creators, Cultural Workers, and Arts Lovers
Conversations around accessibility in the arts often focus mainly on ways to make artwork accessible to art audiences. This is essential for three main reasons:
First and foremost, Disabled people have to right to equitably engage with the Arts;
Secondly, whatever subject matter you are exploring, Disabled people are a part of your audience. If you want to reach people, it is in your best interest to create artwork that is accessible to people with Disabilities;
And thirdly, because creating iterative and interdependent artwork based in Disability Justice has the potential to enrich your art practice!
This being said, it's important to remember that Disabled people are not only a part of your audience, but also your creative community! You may be a Disabled artist yourself, or know Disabled people working within the arts. There may be people in your community who have disabilities that you are unaware of. If you are passionate about your creative community, it's important to consider the Disabled artists and arts workers among you. Creating an art practice that is accessible ensures that these people can engage fully with your work during critique, studio visits and community gatherings.
Iterative + Interdependent Artmaking
In an interview with Edna Bonhomme for Frieze Magazine, Carolyn Lazard said, "Access has this capacity to break through the boundaries of medium, because of the way it makes art necessarily iterative. Through access, a single artwork might exist as a description, as a notation, as sign language, as a transcript or as a tactile object – depending on what people need." (Frieze, 2022) Lazard points out an edifying and rewarding aspect of creating accessible art - the process and end result can lead to a generative and iterative style of artmaking that expands your art practice, skills, audience and creative community. By exploring an idea in several different forms of expressions or modes of communication, you have the opportunity to deepen your own understanding of the concept, and create an artwork (or artworks) that investigate a topic extensively. This is beneficial for yourself, as well as the audience to whom you hope to reach.
As you read through this guide, you may be intimidated by the thoughts of adding several new elements to your artworks. You may feel confident with your skills as a visual or time-based media artist, but not as a writer, for example. In the spirit of Disability culture, embracing collaboration and “interdependent artmaking” is something to celebrate. If you don’t feel comfortable writing your own artwork descriptions or you are interested in learning Audio Description but recognize you don’t have the time at this point in your career, seek out others in your creative community who can help - collaborate on interactive artworks that can be combined to make a fully accessible work of art. Working with others to create multimodal, multisensory artworks is just another way of approaching accessibility, and one that honors and uplifts Disability culture and justice.
Disability Related Language + Concepts
For anyone - disabled or non-disabled - who is working towards a more accessible creative practice, there are a few Disability related concepts and terms that are essential. This information will likely be already known by folks working within Disability culture, policy, and/or art, but for others this may be a helpful introductory overview. Below read more about Disability Justice, models of Disability, and preferred Disability language.
Disability Justice
Disability Justice is a contemporary framework developed by Disability activists Mia Mingus, Patty Berne, Leroy Moore, Stacey Milbern, Sabastian Margaret and Eli Clare - a collective of BIPOC and Queer Disabled folks based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Disability Justice focuses on systems of intersectional oppression - such as racism, sexism, classism, christian supremacy, queer- and transphobia, and white supremacy - that intertwine with ableism. The collective, Sins Invalid, has written widely about interdependence, anticapitalism, intersectionality, and disability solidarity. They also created the 10 Principles of Disability Justice, which outlines crucial aspects of the movement.
Read more about Disability Justice on the Sins Invalid website. For anyone who is interested in intersectional approaches to social justice, their work is essential and groundbreaking!
Social Model of Disability
Created by disabled people, the Social Model of Disability argues that humans naturally come in a variety of bodyminds, which are changed and shaped by our environment. What bodyminds we treat as valuable or are devalued are social and political decisions. Societies decide which bodyminds are normal or abnormal (disabled) and then create systems and spaces to fit only those deemed normal. This in turn leads to the exclusion, abuse, and violence toward bodyminds who have been labeled as disabled. The Social Model argues that nothing is “wrong” with the disabled bodymind but that it is the inaccessible society that is the issue or problem that needs to be fixed. (Definition from the Critical Disability Studies Collective at the University of Minnesota.)
Political/Relational Model of Disability
Building upon the Social Model, the Political / Relational model urges us to remember that disability is always a political category. Disability is deeply connected to anti-black racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, classism, and other forms of oppression. These systems of power both create more disabled people and limit the life chances of disabled people who experience them. This approach offers a critical engagement with medical, rehab, and other health care systems because many disabled people need these systems to survive and also routinely experience oppression, violence, and exclusion from them. Disability is understood as relational because disability and ability define one another, and disability does not occur in isolation. (Definition from the Critical Disability Studies Collective at the University of Minnesota.)
Person First vs. Identity First Language
If you are unfamiliar with Disability Rights, Culture, Justice, or the various sociocultural identities that exist under the Disability umbrella, you may be unsure what terms are best to use for specific identities, disabilities, or circumstances. For example, there are varying opinions within the Disability community regarding the use of person-first language (person with a disability) or identity-first language (disabled person.) Those opinions are often passionate and can differ depending on the disability; for example, many people in the autism and Deaf communities prefer identity-first language because they consider those to be integral aspects of their identities. Identity-first language also speaks more accurately to the Social Model of Disability, which argues that people are disabled by society, so Disabled person is fitting when using that framework. However, others in the Disability community prefer person-first language - for example, “person with epilepsy,” or “person with schizophrenia.” It’s best to ask someone personally about their preferences. Or you can alternate between the two, if you are discussing Disability more broadly. Of course, if you are part of the Disability community yourself, you should feel empowered to use whatever term you feel best fits your identity and politics. If you want to read some firsthand opinions on the topic, there are many articles online - here are a few:
Additionally, people often use terms that can be demeaning or condescending without realizing they are being hurtful. “Disability” and “Disabled” are fine to say - you can say them with confidence. In general, steer clear of terms like “differently-abled” or “special needs,” as well as terms that include “impaired,” “deformed” or “suffers from.” Here is a helpful, up-to-date Disability Language Style Guide from the National Center on Disability and Journalism that is a good point of reference.
Interdependence
Interdependence is a concept frequently explored and embraced within the Disability community, though it's a concept that is commonly discussed in other communities, cultures and areas of scholarship. For many Disabled people, support systems and communities of care are essential to their survival and ability to thrive. Here are some resources that discuss interdependence in the context of disability culture and our capitalist society:
Denise Lange | TedTalk | The Independence Myth: People with Disabilities are Interdependent Too | 6 minutes
Access Intimacy
As an extension and more humanized version of interdependence, Disability Activist, Mia Mingus named an important concept - Access Intimacy. Mingus explains Access Intimacy:
“Access intimacy is that elusive, hard to describe feeling when someone else “gets” your access needs. The kind of eerie comfort that your disabled self feels with someone on a purely access level. Sometimes it can happen with complete strangers, disabled or not, or sometimes it can be built over years. It could also be the way your body relaxes and opens up with someone when all your access needs are being met. It is not dependent on someone having a political understanding of disability, ableism or access. Some of the people I have experienced the deepest access intimacy with (especially able bodied people) have had no education or exposure to a political understanding of disability.
“Access intimacy is also the intimacy I feel with many other disabled and sick people who have an automatic understanding of access needs out of our shared similar lived experience of the many different ways ableism manifests in our lives. Together, we share a kind of access intimacy that is ground-level, with no need for explanations.” - “Access Intimacy: The Missing Link” by Mia Mingus
Artwork Description: Two people with low vision sit at a table cluttered with art supplies, both wearing glasses. On the left, the South Asian person with facial hair uses watercolor to paint flowers. A reference book and a pair of reading glasses rests behind them. Across the table, the Black person with short hair examines a small figurine through a magnifying glass that's centered on an eye. The craft area is warmly lit by two desk lamps and the illustration background is a yellow green. (Illustration by Sherm for Disabled and Here)
Getting Started
If you’re not sure how to best start adding accessibility features to your artwork and are overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on something you are unfamiliar with, start by looking at the following suggestions based on type of artwork. While most artwork doesn’t fall neatly into a “category,” starting here might be a more approachable way to explore accessibility features. As mentioned before, think of this as a first step - you can expand upon these features, and experiment with more creative approaches, as you get more comfortable with including these “accompaniments” within your art practice.
Keep in mind that this list does not include everything related to exhibition design or forms of audience engagement, which are essential to consider when you’re developing an exhibition. However, developing the accessibility features listed below in the early stage of the art-making process will make it much easier to consider features related to exhibition design in the later stages.
What kind of artwork are you creating?
Below you find artwork in broad categories along with a list of suggested accessibility features. Click on the link to be taken to the section of the guide.
2D Visual Artwork | e.g. Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Mixed Media, Textile (wall pieces) or Photography:
Artwork Description (Image Description)
For Digital Presentations: Alt-text
Exhibition Design Consideration: Display work at lower height, content warning at gallery entrance (if applicable)
Additional possibilities: Audio versions of Artwork Descriptions
3D Visual Artwork | e.g. Sculpture, Installation, Glass artworks, Metal / Jewelry, ceramics or other non-wall mounted artworks:
Artwork Description
For Digital Presentations: Alt-text and Image Descriptions for all photo documentation (description and alt-text for each photo)
Exhibition Design Consideration: Display work at lower height, content warning at gallery entrance (if applicable),
Additional possibilities: Audio versions of Artwork Descriptions
For Installation or sculpture with video and/or sound: Also review and include the suggested accessibility features in the appropriate “Time-based Media” category. You will need to create a hybrid of the two categories.
Time-Based Media (Audio Only) | e.g. Sound Art, Music Composition:
Sound description
Transcript
Content Warning (if applicable)
Exhibition Design Consideration: gallery sitting nearby for longer engagement
Time Based Media (Video Only) | e.g. Silent films or digital video without sound:
Video description
Closed Captions
Descriptive transcript
Audio description
Content Warning (if applicable)
Exhibition Design Consideration: gallery sitting nearby for longer engagement
Time Based Media (Audio-Video) | e.g. Music videos, Video documentation of performance art, Video Art with sound:
Hybrid of sound and video description
Closed-Captions
Descriptive transcript
Audio description
Content Warning (if applicable)
Exhibition Design Consideration: gallery sitting nearby for longer engagement
Live Performance Art
CART and ASL
Live Audio description
Content Warning (if applicable)
List of Access features in event announcement
Venue Design Requirement: accessible seating and bathrooms
Additional Consideration: Relaxed performances
Writing + Poetry
A recorded version of the written piece
Screen reader, dyslexia, and sensory friendly formatting (in both digital and print formats)
Content Warning (if applicable)
Additional Considerations: collaborate with other artists to add accompanying visual artwork and/or ambient sounds with your recording
Artwork Description: A Black woman with short, curly hair kneels on the floor, using a yellow screwdriver to fasten nails into a partially constructed bookcase. A few screws and a hammer are laid in front of her on the light blue floor. A purple cane is within reach of the woman, leaning against the yellow wall behind her. (Illustration by Aisha Akeju for Disabled and Here)
Sources
Bonhomme, E. and Lazard, C., 2022. Carolyn Lazard on Illness, Intimacy and the Aesthetics of Access. Frieze.com. Retrieved 18 March 2022
Brown, L. X.Z. (2011, August). Identity-First Language. Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Retrieved April 2, 2022
Haelle, T. (2019, July 31). Identity-first vs. person-first language is an important distinction. Association of Health Care Journalists. Retrieved April 23, 2022
Lange, D. (2016, September 2). The Independence Myth: People With Disabilities Are Interdependent Too | Denise Lance | TEDxKC. YouTube. Retrieved April 19, 2022
Lazard, C., 2019. Accessibility in the Arts: A Promise and a Practice. Promiseandpractice.art. Retrieved 24 April 2022
Liebowitz, C. (2015, March 20). I am Disabled: On Identity-First Versus People-First Language. The Body Is Not An Apology. Retrieved April 4, 2022
Mingus, M., 2011. Access Intimacy: The Missing Link. Leaving Evidence. Retrieved 17 April 2022
Patty Berne - Sins Invalid. (n.d.). Skin, Tooth, and Bone: A Disability Justice Primer (2nd Edition ed.). Sins Invalid.
Raghavan, S. (2020, May 20). In a world that often interprets 'care' as 'burden', interdependence should be valued beyond disabled community-Living News. Firstpost. Retrieved May 4, 2022
Sins Invalid. (2015, September 17). 10 Principles of Disability Justice — Sins Invalid. Sins Invalid. Retrieved May 2, 2022
Sins Invalid. (2020, June 16). What is Disability Justice? — Sins Invalid. Sins Invalid. Retrieved May 3, 2022
Snow, K. (2010). Interdependence: Revolutionary Common Sense. Interdependence. Retrieved March 14, 2022
