NEXT WEEK: 1 Year of Crip News
Tuesday, October 11th
10-11am PT / 11am-12pm MT / 12-1pm CT / 1-2pm ET / 6-7pm BST / 7-8pm CET
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Please register here for our event to mark the first birthday of this space. Thank you for being in this with me.
And sorry today’s issue is so late!
-kevin
NEWS
New Works
Disabled artist and Artistic Director of Touretteshero Jess Thom recently published a call to comprehensive risk assessment for The Stage. “The art, activism and thinking of disabled people is valuable and varied to our shared cultural lives,” Thom writes, “yet so much of this is currently at risk, and alarmingly few people seem to have noticed.”
The New Yorker recently published “Tuesco,” a film by Venezuelan artist Daniel Poler that offers a slice of life from the Benaim family and their charismatic disabled star, Jonathan. It’s a film designed for a nondisabled gaze (subtitles instead of captioning, no audio description), playing to an almost prurient voyeuristic interest in ordinary disabled life. But the family’s sardonic humor and their refusal to let shame rule the day offer something beautiful.
‘If We Never Get Better’ is open through Dec. 10th at the TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image in Philadelphia. Curated by Editor-in-Chief of The Photographer’s Green Book, Sydney Ellison. Featuring “lens-based” artists Anique Jordan, Ari Golub, Clifford Prince King, Debmalya Ray Choudhuri, Frances Bukovsky, Jaklin Romine, Jenica Heintzelman, Shala Miller and Shanna Merola.
‘I’m a Monster, I’m a Flower, I’m Everything at Once’ recently closed at MoMA. Organized by Theresa Rodewald, Assistant Educator, Community and Access Programs, The Museum of Modern Art, with Priscilla Frank, Supervisor, Mallory Perry, Artist Mentor, and Lexy Ho-Tai, Teaching Artist, YAI Arts.
‘Outside Forces’ is on view through Oct. 22nd at Art Enables in Washington D.C., comprised entirely of the studio’s self-taught artists. Ryann Tanap from Health Affairs focuses on the organization in his recent article about creating income opportunities for disabled artists.
‘W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, & Disability’ is on view at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in Cleveland through Nov. 12th. Curated by Megan Alves and Mindy Tousley featuring Sarah Brown, Kristi Copez, Chappelle Letman Jr., MANDEM, Meg Matko, Arabella Proffer, Nate Puppets, Andrew Reach, and Kate Snow.
In Other News…
Teen Vogue continues to publish great content about disability politics. They recently convened 11 activists to discuss the state of Disability Justice. And Kim Kelly recently published an in-depth history of subminimum wages for disabled workers.
New York prisons are violating a state law that prohibits holding disabled people in solitary confinement for any length of time, for any reason.
Aotearoa, so-called New Zealand, is the latest country to address jargon as inaccessibility with a new plain language law. Status updates from other places where plain language is legally required in government affairs shows us it’s a large and difficult set of challenges.
in The Atlantic, Ed Yong writes about the lack of medical specialization for ME/CFS, now crucial for treating millions with long COVID.
The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee published a new report about the way extreme weather is affecting healthcare in the U.S. A majority of health systems have experienced extreme weather events but just over a third report having implemented a plan for future disruptions.
Rest in Power
Samantha Meyers was an activist who drew attention and resources to Familial Dysautonomia. This work is part of the important and underrecognized legacy of advocacy for rare impairments. She is remembered as a beloved and joyful friend. You can view her moving memorial service here.
Timothy Barnett was an accessibility and conservation advocate. His work protected hundreds of thousands of acres of land from private development throughout the Adirondacks Park. Tim’s Trail, a wheelchair accessible trail at The Nature Conservancy’s Willsboro preserve, is named for him.
CALLS
The Board of Directors of the New York Deaf Theatre is seeking new potential board members. Email Board President Don Galloway at president@newyorkdeaftheatre.org if you are interested in learning more.
Heidi Latsky Dance is looking for diverse, interesting movers to join the company! Please refer to the company’s website for information about the types of work they do. If you are interested please contact heidi@heidilatskydance.org.
EVENTS
Southampton, U.K.: Liza Sylvestre and Christopher Robert Jones will perform their Flashlight Project at the John Hansard Gallery on Friday, Oct. 7th from 19:00 - 20:00 BST. More here.
The National Human Genome Research Institute and The State University of New York at Buffalo Center for Disability Studies will hold a two-day symposium entitled, “Irreducible Subjects: Disability and Genomics in the Past, Present and Future" on Oct. 6th and 7th. More here.