NEWS
Happy International Week of Deaf People
The World Federation of the Deaf celebrated the inaugural International Day of the Deaf in 1958 to mark the first World Congress of the Federation in Rome. Now, the celebration has been extended to a week to create ties among 131 member nations representing 70 million people.
Institutions’ Ableist Performance Art
Organizer Corbett O’Toole recently published a thorough report on the access denials during The Shed’s recent presentation of its Open Call commission of Kinetic Light’s Wired. The audience experience is a complicated choreographic journey all its own, so the details that compare the New York shows with those earlier this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago stress the ways institutions presenting disability artistry must attend to the intricacies of wayfinding, communication, and ease that all too easily get separated out and ignored.
If you’re looking to experience the ensemble’s artistry from home, however, you have several options for how to view films from the MCA performances now available on Kinetic Light’s linktree.
Rest in Power, Gaylon Tootle
An Instagram post from @AAPDOfficial: A photo of Gaylon Tootle, an older Black man who is also blind. Gaylon is looking at the camera and smiling slightly. He wears a gray cap, wire-rimmed glasses, and a black dashiki shirt with yellow, white, purple and red patterns. Text: “Rest in peace & power Gaylon Tootle, 1959 - 2022. REV UP Georgia co-lead, Dedicated Advocate, Beloved Friend”
Tootle, a powerful activist for disability voting rights, recently celebrated the anniversary of the passing of the ADA at the residence of Vice Present Kamala Harris and was recently appointed to Stacey Abrams’ Disability Council.
New Works
In the newest issue of New Suns, organizer Mia Mingus discusses creating language for a loving world, interdependence as practice, and staying with ugliness.
In Rhode Island, LUNA Community Care is developing new ways to pay disabled workers who organize peer-led, drop-in mental health support groups for neurodivergent youth and adults.
Michelle Wright, CEO of Cause4 and Programme Director of the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme in the U.K., wrote about the need for a radical overhaul of arts grant funding.
In Other News…
The National Endowment for the Arts has published a new report on Labor Force Estimates for Artist Occupations. It features no data at all about disability.
The Center for American Progress has published a new report, “Crossing the Border: How Disability Civil Rights Protections Can Include Disabled Asylum-Seekers.”
The Dan Grover Memorial Ticket Grant Program from Accessible Festivals will give away free access to some of the biggest festivals in the country, including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Stagecoach, Electric Daisy Carnival and many more.
Nieman reports on the rise of trauma-informed journalism.
U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Tammy Duckworth have introduced the Reproductive Health Care Accessibility Act to “lower barriers to sexual and reproductive care and help ensure disabled people get timely access to culturally competent health care.”
Parent-organizers are sounding the alarm about ableism at the Denver School of the Arts.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are proposing a new rule designed to simplify the application and verification processes for people seeking coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program known as CHIP.
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and NBCUniversal named the recipients of the 2022 Tony Coelho Scholarship, which supports disabled students pursuing a career in media and communications.
CALLS
New York artists (outside NYC): Cycle 2 of the NYSCA/NYFA Artists with Disabilities Grant will distribute $1000 to artists as COVID-19 relief. More here.
Prof. Sunaura Taylor at UC Berkeley is seeking a full-time research and artist assistant to work in the Disabled Ecologies Lab. Apply here.
Applications are being accepted through Sept. 30th [updated] for the fifth round of Queens Theatre's Theatre For All (TFA) Professional Actor Training Program. More here.
Artist Jamie Hale is seeking funds for the U.K.’s first Disabled Poets Prize. Donate here.
The Museum, Arts and Culture Access Consortium is conducting paid focus groups to highlight the experiences and preferences of the disability community surrounding virtual access. RSVP here by Sept. 20th or email Alison Kopit at macvirtualaccess@gmail.com with any questions.
EVENTS
Peoples Hub presents Culture is Our Weapon: Cultural Organizing 101 with Joe Tolbert, Jr. on Sept. 21st and 22nd, 6:30-8:30pm ET. More here.
Chicago: 12TH ANNUAL COUNTERBALANCE presented by Access Living, Bodies of Work, MOMENTA, and ReinventAbility. Sept. 24th & 25th. More here.
The Health Justice Commons' Fall 2022 Course: Understanding and Transforming the Medical Industrial Complex, Part 1, starting Sept. 29th. Register here.
The Fireweed Collective is offering several new weekly fall groups, all on Zoom. Check them out here.
The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn presents Neurodivergent Pickling by Niyoosha Ahmadikhoo & Julie Dind on Saturday, Sept. 24th from 11am to 7pm ET. More here.
M. Leona Godin’s Book Release Celebration and Conversation hosted by NYU’s Modern and Contemporary Colloquium and Center for Disability Studies will take place on Thursday, Sept. 22nd at 6pm ET on Zoom and the 1st floor of 244 Greene St. Register here.
Mason Gross Dance at Rutgers University presents Kinetic Light’s DESCENT on Sept. 30th & Oct. 1st. More here.