“Imagine a world of diversity and interdependence, where people are respected simply for who they are; where our commonalities are recognized and bring us closer; and where differences are celebrated for what they provide: opportunities to bring something unique and individual to our community.” – Dan Wilkins, Advocate
Crip Culture: it is long and it is storied; chocked full of powerful voices and colorful people. Some of us are famous, most of us are not. We come from different walks, rolls, crawls. We speak with our mouths, our hands, our eyes. We share our stories in myriad ways: we paint, we dance, we write; we sing, we act, we lead. We share our stories because we all dream of a better, more understanding and inclusive world, and we know in our hearts if we do not share our stories, no one else will … and nothing in our lives, in our world, will ever change for the better.
The Ability Center would like to share organizational and personal websites that relate to art in all of its forms. Hopefully, these links will inspire.
Artists
Krishanna Spencer’s Blog and Website – neat friend from Richmond, VA
Luzenith.com – the Artwork of Luz Elena Aponte.
Riva Lehrer – From Chicago, a well-known and respected portrait artist from our Disabled community.
Zach Lieberman-Interactive Art: This is a Vimeo video of a Pop-Tech presentation by Zach Lieberman on his assisting a graffiti artist with ALS to tag/draw with his eyes. Low tech solutions open sourced for collaboration make this a very cool project.
Blogs
Access Ability Blog
Adaptive Life With KimberleyB – Extensive blog of Kimberley Barreda
Active Living Magazine the Adapted Lifestyle Resource Guide
Bad Cripple – William Peace’s Blog
Big Noise - Cilla Sluga’s Diversity Blog
Cerebral Palsy Family – Amy Hyndman’s Blog. Local as well
Climbing Every Mountain – A Base Camp for Parents and Caregivers of People with Disabilities
Cripchick’s Blog – Cripchick is a powerchair-roaring disabled queer woman of color activist and writer.
Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt
Lawrence Moore’s Blog – concerning issues relevant to the Toledo area disabled community
Media Dis&Dat Blog
Patricia E. Bauer’s Blog – news and commentary on disability issues
PhilosopherCrip.com – Great blog. Lot’s of information, discussion and links
Smart Ass Cripple – Mike Ervin, a fine writer with a new blog
The Art Of Web Accessibility – making the web enjoyable for everyone
The Trouble With Jerry – premiere spot for news on the Telethon protest front
Centers for Independent Living Blogs
Advocacy Blog for the Center for Independent Living of South Florida
Center for Persons with Disabilities Blog
Northeast Pennsylvania Center for Independent Living Blog
RCIL-Disability Rights
History
It’s Our Story – This is a link to Scott Cooper’s ongoing and extensive oral history project
Organizations
Art Beyond Sight – A wonderful link to information centered around art education for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Artz: is Artists for Alzheimers – an initiative of the Hearthstone Alzheimer’s Foundation that draws on the support and collaboration of artists and cultural institutions, as resource, to share, educate and inspire
Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) – Formed in 1956, the MFPA is an international, for-profit association wholly owned and run by disabled artists to help them meet their financial needs
UC-Berkeley’ Oral History Project – Artists with Disabilities Page
VSA Arts – international organization on arts and disability
National Arts and Disability Center (NADC) - Promoting the full inclusion of audiences and artists with disabilities into all facets of the arts community
Poetry
Laura Hershey – Poet, Author, Activist
They Call Him Crutch – Since, in our opinion, not all poetry needs to be “written” or “spoken”, we’ll place this here.
