Page One

Friday, the Arts Access Network held a preview exhibition of a festival set for next year that will present work by disabled artists as well as offer opportunities for the disabled to be creative. 

Held on the sixth floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Building, the exhibition featured the paintings, crafts and poetry of 12 disabled artists including Carla Toth, Philip Martin Chavez and Mark Hendrix. The show was a preview of the Arts Access Festival, which will take place in October 2002. 

The goal of the festival is to increase opportunities for creativity in the disabled community, which has traditionally been denied access to galleries, studios and stages, organizers say. 

“We believe everyone, no matter their abilities, should (have the opportunity of) participating, creating and enjoying art,” said Curtis Billue, co-chair of AAN. “The right to communicate thoughts and feelings and dreams to another person is a right like no other.” 

Arts Access Network, formed last year, is a nonprofit collective of 14 organizations from four Bay Area counties. Participating organizations include the Center for Independent Living, Center for Accessible Technology and the city’s Civic Arts Division. The AAN currently publishes a quarterly newsletter that provides information about accessible art exhibitions, workshops and classes. 

The organization’s mission is to promote arts participation, representation, and integration by people of all abilities. 

AAN co-founder Elias Katz, president of the National Institute of Art and Disabilities in Richmond, said disabled people often experience limited access to not only the enjoyment of art but creating it as well. 

“We want disabled people to have access to the creative arts wherever possible and we don’t just mean ramps and sign language, but the ability to be creative as well.” 

Director of Integrated Arts Dmitri Belser said the problem of inaccessibility to art programs usually begins in school.  

“Traditionally people with disabilities haven’t had access to the arts because most schools don’t make arts classes accessible for those kids, because art is viewed as unimportant,” he said. 

Belser said the booths planned for next year’s festival, will exhibit a variety of art forms, including painting, clay work and textile printing. Creating art will be on the agenda, with a host of adaptive tools available, so those with creative impulses can try them out. 

Artist Mark Hendrix, who presented his graphic arts work at the preview exhibition, said it’s important for disabled artists to stay current on technological advances that help the creative process. 

Hendrix said many artists have interns or helpers carry out most of the actual work and that disabled artists should not rule out having other people or technology help them as well. 

“A lot of people, when they look a piece of art, think that it was created by a lone person but that perception often isn’t justified,” he said. “Anyone who wants to can be creative with the help of tools.” 

Hendrix said another artist who showed at the exhibit, Philip Martin Chavez, presented paintings that were executed entirely with the use of voice-activated software. 

AAN Festival organizers are currently signing up businesses, organizations and artists that are interested in sponsoring booths at next year’s event. For more information about receiving the AAN newsletter or participating in the festival, call 841-1466 or visit http://www.icomm.ca/iarts.