While finding a concert, play or other cultural event that fits into price and time constraints may be a tedious task for most, those with disabilities must also grapple with finding events that meet unique needs — a daunting process that was just made a bit easier through the collaboration of several local arts agencies.
Art-Reach, headed by openly gay executive director Michael Norris, launched Independence Starts Here, an outreach initiative with Amaryllis Theater Company, in 2004 in an effort to strengthen the connections between arts organizations and audiences with a variety of disabilities. The initiative has expanded and evolved over the past several years and took the next step last week with the launch of its cultural calendar.
The calendar, posted on PhillyFunGuide, provides a central location with information about arts and cultural events that offer enhanced accommodations for those with sensory disabilities, such as the blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing.
Norris said the calendar represents the progression of the original mission of Independence Starts Here.
“The initial idea was really about building bridges and relationships, because there’s often an adversarial or tense relationship between cultural organizations, who feel underresourced, challenged and misinformed or uninformed, and those with disabilities, who feel like they don’t have a voice or aren’t quite sure how to get what they need or want from the cultural community,” Norris said.
Independence Starts Here has hosted such events as the Disability Arts Festival and, while Norris said that activities such as this have been highly beneficial in promoting the ties between these communities, they are finite; the cultural calendar, however, has the potential to keep growing, expanding and continually connecting arts lovers with events suited for them.
“The calendar is something that’s here to stay and something that I think will have a long-term impact and help increase access not just in one concentrated timeframe but over a period of time,” he said.
The calendar provides information about upcoming events at more than a dozen area venues that offer such services as sign-language interpretation and captioning for those with hearing impairments, and tactile enhancements or audio descriptions of the action of a stage performance for those with visual impairments.
Norris noted that, beyond the benefits the calendar provides to those with disabilities, it will also have a positive impact on venues that offer such services.
“This was designed to also be a resource for cultural organizations that provide their audiences this type of access,” he said. “They often struggle with reaching out to and developing audiences for their accessible works, so by providing this service, we can help make potential audiences more aware of what they’re doing.”
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which operates the PhillyFunGuide site, agreed to host the page, which Norris said represents that those with disabilities are a welcomed population in the greater arts community.
“I felt that it was really important that this calendar is a part of the mainstream,” he said. “It’s not that we didn’t want this on our Web site, but I felt like its home had to be right in the heart of the Fun Guide, with the rest of the city’s cultural information.”
Norris said the inclusion of the calendar on the mainstream site also emphasizes the idea that accessible cultural events are available for those with all levels of disabilities and can enhance someone’s enjoyment of an arts celebration who may not have previously considered that option.
“As we age, we may start suffering hearing loss or our eyesight may become worse, and this could be an opportunity that you didn’t know about. Anyone who has a hearing impairment or a visual impairment at all can benefit from this — you, your mother, your grandmother — anyone can benefit from this calendar.”
To view the calendar, visit www.PhillyFunGuide.com/access. For more information about Art-Reach, visit www.art-reach.org.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].