Crip News v.115
MLK Day, Covid, new works, calls, events. Thanks for being here.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Stevie Wonder released “Happy Birthday” in 1981 and put his life on hold for 3 years to campaign for King’s birthday to become a federal U.S. holiday. Today, we mark the 41st anniversary of the success of that organizing.
And if you missed it last year, check out the essay I published about how MLK figured disability into his oft-cited case for a guaranteed income:
NEWS
Covid Isn’t Back
…because it never went away! As the JN.1 variant circulates, broad and chronic institutional failures are causing the second highest wastewater levels since the first Omicron wave in January 2022. Yet again, disabled people are fighting for basic protections that should be a given.
The fabulous organizers at the People’s CDC have a call-to-action to restore universal masking in healthcare settings. Write to your electeds here and check out a call-in toolkit here.
New Works
Disabled artist and educator Paula Stuttman pays tribute to a one-armed go-go dancer with critical description and animation artistry about a “rotten representation of disability” in Martin Scorcese’s 1978 The Last Waltz.
Towards a Warm Embrace, an exhibition by Ezra Benus and Finnegan Shannon and curated by Sara Cluggish, is up at the Perlman Teaching Museum at Carlton University in Northfield, MN until April 14.
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) has published “Charting Equality: Why Demographic Disability Data is Good for Everyone” by Mary Lou Breslin And Silvia Yee.
Whistle, an international platform which aims to confront gender-based violence in dance, has released Disrupting Harm in Dance, “an online self-directed course offering information and tools for dancers, performers, and adjacent professionals to work more safely together.” The curriculum includes Invitations for Untethering Dance Practice from Systemic Ableism by Crip Movement Lab (Kayla Hamilton & Elisabeth Motley).
The Arc has published “A Journalist’s Guide to Disability for Election 2024.”
Vance Taylor, Chief of the Office of Access and Functional Needs at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, was recently on KPFA’s Pushing Limits with Bonnie Elliot to discuss disability and emergency preparedness.
The Disability & Philanthropy Forum has published a fact sheet for funders about the importance of funding Disability Rights & Justice.
Teal Sherer writes about an increase in voice-over acting work for wheelchair users for New Mobility.
The recording is out from Healing Justice Ldn’s event about “The Power of Somatics for Disability Justice” featuring Cyrée Jarelle Johnson, Lani Parker, The Triple Cripples, and Farzana Khan:
Recent Honors
Disabled dance artist and organizer Vanessa Hernández Cruz is a winner of 2023 Artist Disruptor Awards, administered by the Center for Cultural Power and the California Arts Council.
Disabled artist and scholar Devva Kasnitz is a winner of the 2023 Victor Thomas Jacoby Award for her project “A Disability Ethnography of Spinning.”
CALLS
Arts Council England is seeking Freelance Access Support Workers. The deadline to apply is TODAY. More here.
AXIS Dance Company seeks an emerging disabled and/or neurodivergent apprentice dancer for a paid professional training and rehearsal program. Apply by Jan. 21. More here.
The University of Atypical (UK) is accepting applications for The D/deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund. Apply by Feb. 16. More here.
The Penticton Art Gallery in British Columbia is seeking submissions for GIFTS OF MADNESS, “a Mad Pride mental health-themed touring art exhibition and festival of live performances by mad artists.” Apply by Feb. 15. More here.
EVENTS
Disability Justice: Centering Intersectionality and Liberation
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 6:30 pm PT, at Town Hall Seattle and online
Patty Berne, Cofounder and Executive Artistic Director of Sins Invalid, will discuss the importance of intersectionality in disability justice and the need to address how diverse systems of oppression reinforce each other. Ms. Berne’s work creates a framework and practice of disability justice, which centers the voices and experiences of disabled people who are often marginalized and oppressed in multiple ways.
Neurodiversity and Museums Today: Artists in Conversation
Thursday, Jan. 18, 1 - 2:30 pm ET, online
This conversation invites you to delve into the practices of neurodivergent artists discussing how they explore access as a subject matter, the complexities of navigating institutional representation of neurodivergence and how artist-led practice can create space to transform this landscape. This conversation will be chaired by artist and consultant Jack Ky Tan, with artist Abbas Zahedi.
Kinetic Light LAB Hangout
Friday, Jan. 19, 2 - 3:30 pm ET, on Zoom
Hangouts are hosted as an open-structured virtual social space for disabled artists to connect and get to know one another. Hangouts offer space to talk about disability, art making, creative practices, life hacks and tips, dreams, desires, disability wisdom, and more. You’re welcome to bring ideas for conversation or a bit of art that inspires you. LAB Producers, morgaine and Camisha, will loosely guide the gathering, offering topics and questions as needed. Come meet and be with us!
Other-Worlding Touch Tour for Blind and low vision participants with Emilie L. Gossiaux
Sunday, Jan. 21, 1 - 2 pm ET, at the Queens Museum (NYC)
Visitors who are blind or have low vision are invited to join Emilie L. Gossiaux on a touch tour of her exhibition, Other-Worlding. Core to this program is the idea of touch and access as love. Participants will learn about the proper way to touch art with consent and care. They will experience Gossiaux’s sculptural installation White Cane Maypole Dance through touch and verbal description, as well as the artist’s explanation of her process.
Audio Description for Dance Workshops
Saturdays starting Jan. 20, 4 - 6pm ET, on Zoom
Krishna Washburn is presenting a limited series of five of her most foundational audio description for dance workshops in January and February 2024.
The Feldenkrais Method and Detours with Johanna Bundon
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 6 - 8:30 pm CST Saskatchewan Time, on Zoom
Listen to Dis’ presents a workshop exploring principles of the Feldenkrais Method. We will intentionally explore some detours into imagination, writing, and speaking.