Disabled, D/deaf and mad artists use the arts to represent cultural and political stories, share experiences, engage with emotions, and challenge dominant narratives surrounding difference. Building on recent research in Ontario, this project uses key informant interviews to explore the experiences of disabled, D/deaf and mad artists: how they survive and thrive through their own artistic practices and in relationship to communities of practice in austere times. This project also explores how government policies impact artists’ livelihoods, and how disability arts influences culture.
Key questions: What barriers to artistry as a livelihood exist? What are the relationships between arts funding and disability-related supports and services? What policies and programs impact artists’ capacities to make a living and a life? How do federal and provincial laws intersect with artistry as a livelihood? How can artistry be a means to survive and thrive?
Researchers and Partners: Carla Rice, Pilot Lead; Chelsea Temple Jones, Co-Investigator; Kimberlee Collins, Research Associate; The Re•Vision Centre for Art and Social Justice in collaboration with partners
Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology and Access to Life (Podcast)
Carla Rice, Eliza Chandler, Chelsea Temple Jones, Rana El Kadi, Kimberlee Collins, and Fady Shanouda
This is a conference-presentation-style podcast in collaboration with the research project, Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology and Access to Life. This episode acts as the conference submission to the 2021 Arts in Society conference in Perth, Australia, by a team of researchers and activists connected with the Live Work Well Centre. In the episode, the team discusses what barriers to the arts and artistry exist both on the ground and online in Canada for people with disabilities and examine creative, pedagogical, and technological interventions aimed at expanding access both structurally and epistemologically. Listen to the captioned podcast on You Tube.