Crip News v.117

New honors, shame on the NEA, and more. Thanks for being here.

Jan 29, 2024

New Flowers for Disabled Artists

A dark-skinned Black man with a beard and blonde hair stands wearing a bright-blue worker jacket in front of a garden. A thin Taiwanese femme with bleach blonde hair and black wing eyeliner sits on their fire escape surrounded by basil leaves in their garden. — Jerron Herman and Yo-Yo Lin

Among the 50 new 2024 United States Artists Fellows are disabled artists Jerron Herman (Dance) and Yo-Yo Lin (Media), both of whom were also awardees in the Disability Futures Fellowship, USA’s collaboration with the Ford and Mellon Foundations. This annual cohort has featured disabled artists consistently in the past several years.
The Whitney Biennial 2024, Even Better Than the Real Thing, also features several disabled artists: JJJJJerome Ellis, People Who Stutter Create, Carolyn Lazard (also featured in the 2019 Biennial), Tourmaline, and Constantina Zavitsanos.
Unlimited announced the 12 artists who have been awarded Bradford 2025 Year of Culture Micro Commissions: Chris Campbell, Emily Susanne Lloyd, Emma Adams, Helen Davies, Letty McHugh, Lorraine Brown and Charlotte Jones, Matt Verguson, Michael Barret and Shi Blank, Anita Dans, and Ry Gibson Moss.
The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts announced the first round of grants for 2024, including many organizations who are working on disability arts programs: Arms Wide Open (El Cajon, CA), Houston Family Arts Center (Houston, TX), Strindberg Laboratory (Glendale, CA), 3Arts (Chicago, IL), Dance Place (Washington, DC), Infinity Dance Theater (New York, NY), Alpha Workshops (New York, NY), Black Hills Works (Rapid City, SD), Art Access/VSA Arts of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT), AXS Lab (Long Island City, NY), Creative Identity (Anaheim, CA), Guitars Over Guns Organization (Miami, FL), EPIC Players (Brooklyn, NY), Piven Theatre Workshop (Evanston, IL), and Universal Access Productions/Arizona Theatre Matters (Glendale, AZ).

Not New News

The awards of the art worlds confer status on a radically few number of brilliant artists and in so doing, risk maintaining ableist structures. 🙃

The NEA is Funding Subminimum Wages for Disabled Workers

There’s one more organization among the NEA grantees listed above that are working on disability arts projects: SpArc Services (Philadelphia, PA). SpArc, like many organizations in The Arc’s network, has a federal 14(c) waiver to pay disabled workers subminimum wages. No artist - no one - should be paid less than the least.

Tomorrow, the NEA is hosting a big-tent conference at the White House called “Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities,” where leaders will continue to elaborate their “whole-of-government” approach to supporting arts and culture. Tlingit and Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin captured many artists’ feelings when he declined his invitation: “There can be no ‘Healing, Bridging, and Thriving’ until these words apply to all human beings.”

Here’s a whole-of-government idea: If the Department of Labor issues a 14(c) waiver, that organization should not be eligible for NEA funds or any other kind of public funding. Check out www.EndSubminimumWage.org for more about this issue - and feel free to get in touch (you can reply directly to this email) if you think you can help.

CALLS

Orange earplugs and the letters “QUIET PARADE” are scattered at various angles against an orange background. — Design by **Matthew Hoffman**.

Artist Aislinn Thomas, curator Ellyn Walker, and the Blackwood Gallery are seeking proposals for Quiet Parade, “a sensory-friendly, float-based ensemble that experiments with unconventional approaches to celebration.” Apply by Feb. 2. More here.
New Disabled South is hiring a Georgia Health Justice Organizer and an Alabama Field Organizer. More here.

Touretteshero is seeking UK-based disabled creatives for its 2024 Young Artists Development Programme. Apply by Feb. 9. More here.
The National League of Cities is seeking an early professional, graduate-level, or experienced undergraduate fellow for a contract research position about arts and culture as tools for improved health and wellbeing. Apply ASAP. More here.
Disabled Hikers is looking for stories with a “unique perspective on disability and the outdoors.” More here.

EVENTS

Neurodiversity and Museums Today: Panel Discussion at Tate

Thursday, Feb. 1, 1 - 2:30pm ET, online

This event will bring together institutional representatives from across the globe to discuss what art institutions are currently offering neurodivergent or disabled audiences, what these audiences want from museums and institutions, and how can institutions be more accommodating for these audiences. The panel discussion will be chaired by artist and consultant Jack Ky Tan. The panellists include Kate Adams, Cathelijne Denekamp, Marcus Dickey-Horley, and Rebecca McGinnis.

Book Cover Image description: a neon-green skeleton leaf’s botanical lace lances downward into earth. Beneath the word Diver, a horizon melts brown into black. Red labels speak of maps and crime scenes.

Reading: Diver Beneath the Street

Wednesday, January 31, 7:30 - 8.30pm ET, on Zoom (passcode 191792)

Petra Kuppers will read from her new poetry collection, Diver Beneath the Street. A Reading for Goddard College's MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts.

On a beige background, there is text, “February 1st, the remote FilmClub.” Below this text, there is a still from the film showing a seashells on top of pink lines, on a blue background. Within the still, there is a caption reading, “Jane began binding the bones together with the bubblegum.” The image rests on a red rectangle with curved edges. Toward the bottom of the rectangle, there is text reading: “Blueberry Blood and Bubblegum Veins, a short film by Charlie Fitz.” Below the rectangle, there is black text on beige: “We are very excited to share that we will be joined by artist-filmmaker, Charlie Fitz, at this upcoming club gathering!” The bottom corners of the post includes: “@theremotebody” and “@restfestfilmfestival”.

The Remote Film Club: Blueberry Blood and Bubblegum Veins

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2pm ET, on Zoom

For our February meeting, we are honored to have filmmaker and artist Charlie Fitz, join us as we view and discuss their short film “Blueberry Blood and Bubblegum Veins.” The short film (12 min) is “a modern folktale film piece about a shielder who decides to build a friend.”