Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility

via its site:

Sins Invalid is a San Francisco/Bay Area based performance project that celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists. Since 2006, our performances have explored themes of sexuality, embodiment, and the disabled body, impacting thousands through live performance.

We’ve consistently heard from people who can’t make it to the SF/Bay Area that they want to experience Sins Invalid. Enter Sins Invalid – The Film.

We are on the verge of completing a 41-minute film that reflects our groundbreaking performance work, weaving interviews of artists and co-founders alongside unreleased performance footage to serve as an entryway into the absurdly taboo topic of sexuality and disability – and we want YOU to walk through that door with us!

We’re in the final stages of production. We are committed to completing the film – so committed in fact that we are donating personal resources to move it forward. We’re stretching but we still need you to premiere this film!

If you'd like to contribute to this project, please go to the Sins Invalid page over at Kickstarter.

Graduating Western Michigan U artist has upcoming exhibit

Guest Post from musician Brent Flicks

JUST A THOUGHT
By: Brent Flicks You can find Brents sites at
www.bflix.ca & www.weareautumn.com

Life...What is life? For some life is a destination, for others it’s all about the journey. Life can lift you up, or tear you down, all in a matter of seconds. Life can sweep you off your feet when your limbs are unstable, or it can come around the corner, out of nowhere, and punch you in the gut when you’re looking the other way. Life can be a companion, or it can be the most lonely feeling in the entire world. Whether you believe you came from somewhere, or believe you came from nowhere, life is something we all experience. It has been said that we all live, but not all of us feel alive. It has also been stated that the only constant in life, is death. But where do we go when death arrives at our feet? Well, some believe that we are taken to a much higher, and better place, where we are reunited with past friends and family. Others believe that we are transformed, and reincarnated, coming back into another life, as another form. Some believe that we’re just gone. Every individual has their own definition of life, and what it means to feel alive. Some believe that a career is the most important aspect in life, others believe that simply happiness is the way to go. Some plan for the future, near or far, and others live each day one step at a time. One of the best quotes of all time, comes from a former Beatles member, and incredible songwriter, John Lennon. Lennon once said, "When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘\pard fs28 happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."
Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and you have to step out of the batter’s box, take a deep breath, reset, and step right back in, prepared to slam the ball out of the park. The path that you thought would lead you to your destiny, doesn’t always stay straight, it often has forks in the road, and even completely different roads altogether. Joseph Campbell once said, "You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you."
Whatever life is to you, wherever you want to go, or don’t want to go, just remember that our time on earth is short, and for some of us, even shorter. Tell people close to you that you love them. Share your dreams and beliefs with anyone that you feel will listen. Chase your dreams and never give up. Trust your instincts and never be redirected by others’ opinions or ridicule. Take chances to reap rewards. Never, EVER, let your fear, or nerves come between you and a possible life changing experience. Live your life as if it’s an opportunity to achieve greatness and change the world. Lastly, and most importantly, live your life as if nobody is watching. That’s what’s on my mind...what’s on yours?

Christopher Duffley performs at Annual Gala

Meet Christopher Duffley, a young musician who was born blind and with autism. He performs at the Triangle Annual Gala in this video.

"I felt it shelter to speak to you"

I have a few links to share about the importance of people with disabilities being heard.

In this blog post, Whose Voice Should Be Heard? its author includes links to blogs by folks with autism and discusses the issue of a mom speaking on behalf of her autistic son. Feel free to leave your comments over there and join in a discussion.

Pentimento Magazine
via its site:

The word "pentimento" refers to seeing beyond the surface.

Through art, photographs, essays, stories and poetry, Pentimento Magazine will ask its readers to see beyond disabilities and physical challenges, to see the ways in which we are all connected, and to find in our pages a sense of what the poet Emily Dickinson wrote, "I felt it shelter to speak to you".

The magazine cover will feature artwork by a disabled child or young adult. Each issue will include a section devoted to writing by readers on various topics, an unedited first-person perspective piece, essays, poetry, photographs and disability-related quotes.

Submissions may be by a disabled individual or an individual who is part of the community such as a family member, educator, therapist, etc.

h/t to Jennifer Fitz

And here's a link to my blog A Different Light with poetry and short stories.

Brad Goldman, artist

I met Brad Goldman at the Abilities Expo. Brad, who has cerebral palsy, is an artist who has been designing custom greeting cards since he was ten years old and has his own business called BRADesigns. His display showed how varied his work is. His note cards were beautifully drawn and packaged. He also sells holiday and special occasion cards.

You can see a sampling of his work online.

Brad was just one of the many talented vendors with disabilities at the expo.

For more information or to place an order please contact Brad: brad@bradesigns.com

I am PWD: Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities

This video is captioned and narrated.



The site for I am PWD is at this link.

Meet the members of the DisAbility Project

via YouTube

Members of The DisAbility Project, a touring theatrical ensemble based in St. Louis, share their stories with an audience of schoolchildren during a performance in the fall of 2009. Some members of the group even use the stage to pitch themselves for a new job. Read more about members of this group and their cause in the Riverfront Times: http://bit.ly/disabilityproject



You can find more performance videos by this group here.

Arts Unbound: Calling Artists with Disabilities!

GALLERY CALL FOR ARTISTS - DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Attention Artists with Disabilities! We are now seeking submissions from artists for the 2008/2009 calendar year.

All original work, in all mediums, will be considered.
There is no fee to submit work.

To submit your work electronically (OR visit the Arts Unbound site) CLICK HERE. Submissions may also be sent via snail mail using a special form available from the Arts Unbound Studio and Gallery.

Artists who are selected will be asked to make an appointment at the gallery to show examples of actual work to the curator and discuss possible inclusion in the upcoming exhibition schedule. Work exhibited will be for sale with a percentage of sale proceeds paid to the artist.

Submission deadline has been extended to
December 31, 2008.

Melody Gardot- Goodnite

A 2007 VSA International Soloist, Melody continues to perform internationally. Here's a clip from a 2006 performance from this artist with a disability who, after a bicycle accident, decided to make music her career....



She spoke about her disabilities as a result of the accident in an NPR interview.

Since the accident, Gardot has struggled with short-term memory loss, which forces her to write and record compositions before she forgets them. Furthermore, her heightened sensitivity to light and sound — which, despite hearing devices and sunglasses — makes performing somewhat difficult. But she says she still finds it enjoyable.

"To be honest with you, being on stage and performing is the 30, 40, 50 minutes of the most pleasurable experience that I have," Gardot says. "Because it's during that time that I don't really feel any pain. I think it's transcendental, and I also think it's kind of like when you have a headache, and someone punches you in the stomach, you forget all about your head."

Michael's paintings...

Michael Jurogue Johnson is an artist who has Down Syndrome. He paints pictures of pets, houses, children and other wonderful things that you can see in the video below.

Hollywood Quad videos - now on sidebar

Meet Jim Troesh aka The Hollywood Quad.

You may remember him as Scotty from Highway to Heaven years ago. Jim's been acting and producing for years now, and his work has gone a long way toward opening doors for actors with disabilities. He's now working on a series that I'd like to help get the word out on called The Hollywood Quad.

I've added video clips of Jim Troesh's Hollywood Quad series to my sidebar- about halfway down....enjoy!

Do you know a young artist with a disability?

VSA arts Invites Entries From Young Artists With Disabilities for Green

Light Awards

Deadline: July 11, 2008

Sponsored by VSA arts ( http://vsarts.org/ ) with support from
Volkswagen of America, Inc. ( http://volkswagengroupamerica.com/ ),
the Green Light Awards program is open to young artists between
the ages of 16 and 25 living in the United States who have a
physical, cognitive, or mental disability. A disability is de-
fined as an impairment that substantially limits a major life
activity.

The program invites entries of both representational and abstract
work. Artwork may illustrate actual aspects of what signals the
artist's creative motivations such as the physical world or personal
discoveries. Abstract work that relates to feelings or
emotions is also encouraged. Work might also reflect the artist's
experience of living with a disability and its role in shaping
or transforming their work.

Art must be an original work that has been completed in the
last three years. Eligible media include paintings and drawings
(oil, watercolor, acrylic, pencil, or charcoal), fine art prints
(lithographs, etching, intaglio, or woodcuts), photography,
computer-generated prints, and two-dimensional mixed media.
This year the program also welcomes entries of sculpture and
time-based media (video, film, etc.).

The program will award one Grand Prize of $20,000, one First
Award of $10,000, one Second Award of $6,000, and twelve Awards
of Excellence of $2,000 each.

Their website is extremely accessible and materials appear to be available
in Braille or Large Print
Visit the VSA arts Web site for complete program information.

via SDS listserv


 

32,000 stares

One man decided to do something about the fact that people stared at him because of his disability. Born without legs, he grew tired of the gawking. So one day he took a picture of someone staring at him. This led to a trip to capture 32,000 stares. And on that journey he learned some things about staring.

He reports that when people stare, they see different things. In one place he's seen as a beggar, in another a holy man. In Montana, where he attends college, he was seen by one person as a disabled vet. They saw him in the context of their culture, among other things.

Kevin Connolly visited 15 countries in three months shooting photos, using in part a grant and prize money from a disabled ski competition. He has a statement on his site about his conclusions on staring as a response by people and how people make up stories about what they see - and how context plays a role in that. You can see his work at The Rolling Exhibition.

reading and riding

The Star Market is a poem in the New Yorker creating some interesting discussion. It was written by a poet with a disability.

h/t SDS list serv

Discovered this weekend that all the curb cuts were fixed and brought into compliance on a local street due to everyone working together - ahhh so nice when that happens! Far better to light a candle than curse the darkness. And light one also for Brent Martin that he may rest in peace.

Matheny Arts Access program

This program facilitates access to different arts for those with disabilities, providing professional instructors in different mediums.  A gallery of works can be found here, some of which are available for purchase. 

A description of their programs is available on their site.  They include painting, digital art, dance, creative writing, and sculpture.

Spread the Love - original song by Jon Weems

I thought this song and video has a great message! Go to http://jonweems.hostrack.com to download Jon's music and see how he writes music with his disability.

Buddy and the Beast

My cat Buddy has had his limits tried ever since I started testing mobility devices out. I've gone through a series of wheelchairs trying to determine what will work best. Because my home has narrow hallways and one of Buddy's favorite places to crash out is the hall, this has really tested his ability to adapt.

But he is a cat. I was impressed with how he gave me exactly enough room to get by with each wheelchair. On the other hand, I found myself looking down, trying to judge where I was so I didn't hit the wall or him as he calmly blinked at me. It was like having a feline traffic cop waving a paw at me, saying "Go on - lots of room."

And then I got a demo chair that I dubbed The Beast. It's not called that because it's huge - because in the realm of power chairs it's not. I called it that because it climbs over almost any obstacle. This chair just doesn't take no for an answer.

The Beast got Buddy's attention. It was the first chair he felt intimidated by. I saw him circling around it when I wasn't in it, sniffing it, putting a paw on the wheels and even meowing at it. It was as if he knew he'd met a contender. House cat meets the Lion King. When I entered the hallway with the Beast, Buddy moved. When I entered a room, he stood up and watched the chair without removing his gaze. I was astounded.

I'll never know what happened that caused a different reaction in Buddy to the Beast. He's always been around wheelchairs and I've never seen him afraid of one before or even wary of one.

A few days later I went into the kitchen in another wheelchair. There was Buddy - curled up, sleeping in the Beast. I rolled over, leaned down and said "Everything okay?"

He rolled over on his back and extended his paw toward the joystick, trying to get it to work. I sighed.

Yes, everything was back to normal in Buddy's world. Somehow he conquered the Beast and discovered it was just another wheelchair.

Speaking of cats and wheelchairs, enjoy this piece entitled Tom and Jerry by the Disabled Avant Garde



About this piece:

"A Collaborative work by the Disabled Avant-Garde (artists Katherine Araniello and Aaron Williamson)

Tom and Jerry: in this piece the DAG's frequent use of 'blue screen' filming and technology reaches its apogee in a cartoonish, slapstick homage to their 'cat-and-mouse' heroes. Traditionally, cartoons and animation are considered to be very accessible to disabled people. Here, the DAG perform an hilarious chase through their 'mama's' house, bumping into cartoon furniture and whacking each other with pots and pans. The anthropomorphism that is an integral factor in the appeal of cartoon characters once again takes on new resonance through the 'filter' of disability. Compare this knockabout, no-holds-barred romp with the careful tiptoeing around disabled people in real life, wrapping them in cotton wool and avoiding causing any offence."

Becoming : Finding Ways to Express Yourself

"What is she doing?"
"Writing."
"Can anything be done about it?"
-from the movie Becoming Jane

My grandmother believed that girls who spent too much time reading and writing would become ill. In her day, girls were discouraged from getting "too much education". So, confronted with a granddaughter who had an insatiable desire to learn and write, she constantly appealed to my parents to quell my "unhealthy habits".

So when I saw the movie trailer for Becoming Jane with this dialogue, I laughed out loud. My niece would probably be baffled and shake her head at the illogical thought process behind these words, but anyone who knows the social mores of the time period in which Jane Austen lived knows these beliefs about women were a very real roadblock to females not that long ago - and vestiges remain.

So it is with disability. Disabled people have also historically been denied access to ways of communicating or the means thereof. We need to encourage people with dsabilities to express themselves - through art, writing and other means. This is an exciting time because people with different disabilities are using more mediums to do so as technology advances. As we open our minds to redefine ways to express ourselves, the results will be astounding. Technologically speaking, we've come a long way from Jane Austen sitting outside a country cottage with a pen and notebook in hand.

If you have a disability and you're reading this, I encourage you to find a way to express yourself. What you have to say is valuable. Once you empower yourself to speak up on topics that matter to you, you'll find others who are doing the same. There is nothing like having a community to enhance the quality of your life. All you need to do is google and look around the internet to find different groups of folks with common interests who do that on message boards - and that is simply the tip of the iceberg.

In my opinion, what matters is that we use every means at our disposal to achieve inclusion. Sometimes the internet is our best way to do that or, perhaps, our only way. Use it. Become a voice. And, perhaps someday,someone will speak these words about you:

"What is he/she doing?"
"Writing/filiming/drawing/dancing."
"Can anything be done about it?"

It will be your signal that not only are you blowing away others' expectations of what you can or cannot do or should or should not do- but a reason to keep doing it. Because you will meet many folks who are interested in hearing what you have to say - and who are traveling on the same journey. I call it a dialogue toward inclusion.

In the video below, the Disability Mural, which reflects the experiences of people with disabilties and those in their lives, is featured. The video contains audio and closed captioning.

Chan Tung Mui, artist with a disability

Chan Tung Mui paints with her left foot. She has cerebral palsy. This video shows her painting and also includes in the narrative some interesting thoughts and perspectives she shares through an interpreter.