When it comes to the inclusive practice of disability arts, we can all do a little better. It is not through a lack of well-versed support – largely the arts are an empathetic sector that champions diversity – rather, it is most often a case of resources.
Disability access and inclusive disability-led programming and policy do not always sit high on the priority list when rolling out cash when there are performance and exhibitions to put on, festivals to mount and other programs barking for attention. But such excuses are no longer valid if organisations choose to be truly inclusive.
A group of leaders within the sector offer tips on how better to manage the hurdles.
1. Leadership by its very nature, has to be top down
Beth Ziebarth, Director of Access Programming at The Smithsonian Institution (USA), has worked in disability access for over 30 years. She said it must be a cross-organisational approach.
‘Having people with disabilities engage with the staff to develop programs, to look at facility access, and be part of that constant evaluation and updating of what we have in place, and plan to offer – it is important at all levels of the organisation that they have a role in accessible and inclusive design – from our governing board to senior administration, own to individual staff members – everyone has a role.’
2. Separate the artist and the disability when it comes to criticism
Adelaide-based dance theatre artist Matt Shilcock believes that we ‘sometimes need to separate the work from the artist’ to have truly objective criticism.
‘Obviously, our experiences inform our art heavily and inform the product we create, regardless of whether that might be our intention or not to create a political statement,’ continued Shilcock.
He believes because of this it is important to look at a work objectively. ‘Regardless of your opinion, the work exists – and for that reason alone, it is valid,’ he said.
He encourages that critics ask the questions: How does the art work or performance make you feel? And what is uniquely inherent to it as an artwork?
Read: Arts criticism of disabled artists needs to get smarter
3. Believe it; lead it
Morwenna Collett, Director of Major Performing Arts Projects for the Australia Council, believes that, ‘people don’t have to have done a special course to be a leader.’
It is an ethos shared by her colleague, Caroline Bowditch, performance artist and Executive Director Arts Access Victoria. ‘We are not anyone’s key market; we are not being actively sought – and that needs to shift.’
She is a huge advocate of disability pride, so much so she painted the façade of her headquarters with the message: ‘disability is not a dirty word’. Down the other side of the building it says ‘disability pride’. ‘We are now actively wearing our pride on the outside, and our ambition is absolutely to allow disabled artists to have that voice and to lead.’
4. Sharing the narrative can help lead
Paralympic athlete and Director of Inclusive Infrastructure and Experience, NSW Dept of Planning, Paul Nunnari believes that sharing your narrative helps to promote inclusion.
‘It is about sharing the narrative of what motivates you as a leader, and then leading that by example. I had a big team about 90 people – by sharing that narrative about me, that then opened up things which helped me to be a more inclusive leader.’
Inclusion and access arealso knowledge, and allow people to feel they are part of that journey, said Nunnari.
5. Teaching people that inclusion is not a budget line entry
Beth Ziebarth said that overall people are happy to support disability access , until their budgets are cut.
‘If you are working in an office like ours (The Smithsonian Institute), you have to spend a lot of time convincing people that accessibility, and inclusion of people with disabilities, is important. Overall people do see the value in that, but it is usually resources that make them stop and question their commitment.’
Ziebarth believes that to truly lead in this areas it can’t be a budgetary afterthought.
6. Tell it like it is
Caroline Bowditch, performance artist and Executive Director Arts Access Victoria, said that after 6 months in the role, she had ‘a me crisis – I realised that I was not surrounded by my people.’
Bowditch continued: ‘As CEO everyone wanted to hear something positive from me – no one was just saying, “How’s it going? Where are we are really sitting at the moment?” I am fast realising that we really need to tell it like it is – to stop allowing disability to be portrayed in the world as how people imagine it to be, but actually tell it like it is.’
7. Understanding the difference between personal and professional expertise
Robin Lynne Marquis, Access Smithsonian Project and Community Outreach Coordinator at The Smithsonian Institution, has over 15 years of experience in small community focused organisations in Washington DC and Baltimore (USA).
But when it came to speaking with an authoritative voice, she was quick to respond: ‘There’s professional expertise and there’s personal expertise on disability. If someone asked me to speak on behalf of disability – there is a problem right there,’ she said.
8. We are not one voice; we are many voices
Marquis’ point was expanded by Beth Ziebarth. ‘So often people think of disability as a physical disability and physical access, but the majority of disability in the US is not visible, so for people to understand that is really important, that is why inclusive design is a really valuable way of doing our work.
Ziebarth explained: ‘That means that whatever we do when we are designing a program, we think about a range of people who might have diff needs to enter the program – different communication modes, different sensors, different ways of engaging – that is really the best way for us to make sure that we serve all – those with and without disability.’
Her advice was that the starting position should be the broadest representation of diversity.
9. Think both vertically and horizontally
Rosemary Kayess is a great advocate of this shift in language and has a holistic approach. She is Director of UNSW Disability Innovation Institute and a Member of UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and holds degrees in social sciences and law.
‘If we have dedicated pathways and programs to get people into higher education – vertical programs – you then have to horizontal programs that ensure all your teaching and learning is universal in design so that there is good access to everyone across research and education.’
Kayess added that ‘it is about contributing to the knowledge of academia about disability and getting it into foundational subjects and should not just the subject that is done just because there is an academic with disability in that faculty’.
Read: Leading for change – who’s leading disability arts?
Her tip is that it is critical that we ensure we have universal design learning embedded in our universities.
10. We don’t live in vacuums
‘It’s no good to development a program in a vacuum, and then start it off and ask people to come, and expect them to have a meaningful experience in the museum,’ points out Ziebarth. ‘Everything that we do should be in concert with the needs and the desires of the disability community.’
She continued: ‘What I like about our work in museums [today] is that we are less worried about physical access to buildings now – we have solved a lot of that and we have laws to address that – but now we need to think about how we make more of our programming to people with disabilities, and in working with the people with different type of disabilities as our user expert group.
‘You can’t do this work without the input of people with disabilities.’
11. Is language leading the for change?
There are pros and cons of disabilities specific programs and initiative versus mainstream programs that are accessible.
CEO of Arts Access Australia, Meagan Shand said she is surprised that we are still having the inclusion conversation – 25-years on since she started working in this field. When she canvassed the disabilities sector, her research showed that it was 50/50 when it came to a preference for disabilities only, versus an inclusive environment.
‘Some people say being in a supportive environment is actually empowering and there is a place for that. Others say it is their decision and not that of policy makers. I go for the stepping-stone model – it is a learning place – being around people and getting the support you need but then to be able to step out of community and be included.’
Her tip is to move beyond our perceptions: ‘I think we need to make space for everyone as they experience things differently.’
12. Career pathways need not be cement paths
Associate Professor Creative Industries QUT, Bree Hadley believes ‘you can teach for change’.
‘The one thing that comes to mind is the difference between working in an arts organisation and a university. Arts organisations are very flat – you can maybe move two to three levels up – where a university is very weighty. What I can bring working with junior staff is that I am not stuck on a single pathway to form a career. Transferring skill across – that is a leadership skill – is key.’
Hadley believes this is as especially relevant point for artists with disabilities, who traditionally have taken a more narrow career path.
‘[Leadership] is about breaking that cycle of where people with disability have been socially and economically excluded from the community for so long – it is about breaking that concept of disability as other,’ added Rosemary Kayess.
13. Organisational values need to move beyond a wall plaque
Beth Ziebarth advice to truly shifting organisational culture is to make it visible.
‘One thing I have always recommended, when an organisation is starting out and really trying to focus on access, is to develop that overall policy first and share it with the entire organisation. You need to make people aware that this is a commitment – that it is one of the organisation’s values,’ said Ziebarth.
