“…[A]ll bodies and brains deserve joyful participation! People with cerebral palsy dance. Blind and Deaf people go to comic book readings. Disabled people visit museums, parks, the permit counter, and neighborhood association meetings at their local churches and libraries… Joyful access requires that we embrace deviation.”

– Hannah Silver, disability activist and Urban Designer, Portland State University^[1]

Article 30 of the UN CRPD not only provides for accessibility of public cultural facilities (museums, galleries, theatres, performing arts venues, etc.), and in the the context of media through access to and representation in film and television, but it also mandates that signatory states “take appropriate measures to enable persons with disabilities to have the opportunity to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society.”^[2] It also provides for the promotion of distinctive linguistic and cultural expressions unique to segments of the disability community, such as sign language and deaf culture.

The relationship between the arts and culture sector and people with disabilities is complicated.  Some art movements – such as “outsider art” or Art Brut – have tended to exploit or ‘other’ people with intellectual disabilities.  But even within these movements there are many moments of recognition and celebration of such artists.  Starting in the 1970s and 80s, there has been much more recognition and support for artists living with disabilities in general.  The subgenre of Deaf View/Image Art, also known as De’VIA, “is art that examines and expresses the Deaf Experience from a cultural, linguistic, and intersectional point of view.”^[3]  Crip Culture is a movement that emerged in the 1990s, led by artists and activists with disabilities who wanted to challenge ableist norms and create a more inclusive society. Crip culture often incorporates humor, satire, and a DIY aesthetic.  Dance and theatre companies are increasingly creating performances that feature dancers and actors with disabilities.  Representations of characters with disabilities in media have been improving with more frequent storytelling specifically focused on people with disabilities, and also storylines where a disability is not a central feature. For example, the television series Push Girls broke new ground chronicling the lives and drives of four women living with paraplegia. However, there is still media that portrays disabled people as villains or casts non-disabled actors to play people with disabilities amidst increasing calls to curb these practices.^[4]

Three quarters of Canada’s arts and culture facilities have accessibility features, with Saskatchewan and Alberta leading the way with roughly 80 per cent of arts and culture facilities having accessibility features.^[5]   Newfoundland has the fewest, at just under 60 per cent.  Toronto’s ReelAbilities Film Festival is the largest disability film festival in North America.^[6] Operated by the Wagner Green Centre for Access & Inclusion at the Miles Nadal JCC, the festival showcases shorts, features, and documentaries about Deaf and disability cultures.  The design of concert, events, and sporting venues has often treated accessibility as an afterthought, with wheelchair accessible seating, for example, relegated to the back.  Accessibility advocates are expecting Calgary’s new events centre, with a jaw-dropping $1.2 billion price tag, to feature state-of-the art provisions, with one interviewee noting that “Accessibility should be the default; it should be embedded into everything, from the design stage, through to purchasing concert tickets, and the experience for disabled fans at the show itself.”^[7]

Inside Out Theatre, for example, is “a Deaf, Disability, and Mad Theatre company invested in artistic excellence, community development, and deepening our cultures’ accessibility.”^[8] They are an example of an organization that intentionally sets out to deepen cultural accessibility, aiming to enhance human agency while reducing social isolation.

Appendix C: Resources includes a list of films, podcasts, and content creators notable for expanding awareness of accessibility and adjacent perspectives and experiences of adults with disabilities.

SPOPTLIGHT: National accessArts Centre