art smarts ~ information and inspiration for canadian artists with disabilities

Chapter 1. Introduction, About S4DAC

Sarah Leavitt
I am an artist and writer who was drawn to S4DAC by my love for art and my desire to become more involved in the art world. My life partner is an artist with disabilities, and I got excited about the work that she was preparing for the kickstART! Celebration. As the office manager of the Society in the months leading up to kickstART! I was caught up in the amazing world of disability arts and culture. As a person without disabilities, I have felt honoured to be able to interview the artists in this book. . I have learned many things about the experience of artists with disabilities, and the artists’ stories and insights have moved me forward in my own writing and art-making.

Geoff McMurchy
I am an artist with varied interests. I was on my way to study printmaking at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1977 when I dove into a lake and broke my neck. After rehab, I was swept up in the disability advocacy movement, expressing my creativity by helping to design and implement innovative events and programs for the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities and by doing freelance graphic design work. I feel incredibly lucky to now be able to merge the two major interests in my life – art and advocacy – through the Society for Disability Arts and Culture. As Artistic Director of kickstART!, I met all kinds of creative people with disabilities doing amazing work, and I’ve had opportunities to sing, dance and allow my creative juices to fertilize all kinds of ideas for future multidisciplinary work. I’m very excited about what we, as artists with disabilities, can do for ourselves, for other people with disabilities and for the community at large.

There are many reasons to engage in the creative process: aesthetic, spiritual, therapeutic and political. Each person has their own mixture of reasons. As Bonnie Sherr Klein, S4DAC’s Artistic Advisor, said:

“Living with a disability, whether from birth or acquired, is itself an art. People with disabilities do not have many role models or maps. Every disability is unique, and we have to create our own paths. We have to confront society’s idealized notions of perfection and defy the stereotyped misconceptions about disability. Our various disabilities push us to create new and interesting ways around obstacles, which can translate into innovative forms of speech, movement, sight and sound, stretching the boundaries of what we know as art. Artists with disabilities are taking risks that only we can take. In the process, we are transforming ourselves as individuals and as a political community, and dramatically transforming the wider public’s notion of disability, as we push our limits, shatter stereotypes and reveal our bond of shared humanity.”

Whatever your interest is in the world of the arts, we hope that you find this manual enlightening, inspiring and useful in practical terms.

Good luck!

Who is this book for?