Making Art Organizations More Accessible

Creating an accessible and inclusive environment in art organizations is essential to ensure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can experience and appreciate the arts. Here's a blog post designed to help art professionals across the globe in achieving this goal, with resources that cover a variety of needs and perspectives.

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The Importance of Accessibility in the Arts

Art plays a critical role in shaping and reflecting values in our societies. It is a powerful medium for expression, storytelling, and cultural exchange, and plays a critical role in the human experience. However, the accessibility of these artistic experiences is not universal. Many people face substantial barriers in accessing the arts, be it due to physical disabilities, mental health conditions, or socio-economic factors. Addressing these challenges is imperative to ensure that the enriching world of arts is open and available to all, fostering an environment of diversity and inclusivity.?

In this article, you will learn more about the importance of creative accessible and inclusive art spaces and you will find resources to help you. There are many organisations such as The National Endowment for the Arts that offer advocacy and technical assistance to address these challenges, aiming to make the arts accessible for all.

Organisations’ Self-Assessment for Accessibility

One of the first steps to improving accessibility is to understand where your organization currently stands. The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council provides an Arts Accessibility Planning Guide, a self-survey tool for small arts organizations. This resource helps identify areas for improvement in making activities more accessible.However, true inclusivity involves embedding accessibility into the core values and operations of art spaces. This includes staff training, raising awareness about all types of disabilities, and ensuring that every aspect of an organization reflects this commitment.

A Comprehensive Guide to Accessibility

In-depth guides like Accessibility in the Arts: A Promise and a Practice by artist Carolyn Lazard and Design for Accessibility: A Cultural Administrator’s Handbook from The National Endowment for the Arts offer valuable insights. These resources, highlighting legal and inclusive practices, are essential for any art organization aiming to be inclusive. They provide a framework for understanding and implementing inclusive practices in cultural spaces.?

Creating Inclusive Art Spaces

Beyond policy and guidelines, many artists and organizations are proactively creating physically accessible art spaces. This includes the installation of wheelchair ramps, the design of tactile art exhibits for the visually impaired, and the development of sensory-friendly environments for those with sensory processing disorders. Additionally, efforts are being made to ensure that all areas of galleries and museums are navigable for those with mobility aids, and that seating arrangements are comfortable for various needs.This movement towards inclusive art spaces is expanding art galleries and museums' reach to a wider audience. For more on this, visit userway.org.

Creating inclusive spaces goes beyond physical accommodations. It’s also about catering to various mental and emotional needs, which is a commitment echoed by organizations worldwide. Shape Arts UK and Australia’s Arts Access are examples of how global art institutions are innovating in this arena, providing case studies and resources that can inspire and guide. Another organisation, The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) focuses on inclusive design in the arts and culture sector. They offer consulting services, educational programs, and resources to make arts venues and programs more accessible to all audiences.

Kids Included Together (KIT) offers a global perspective on the importance of diversity and disability inclusion in the arts. They provide practical suggestions, training, and resources for creating a disability-inclusive art space. Another organisation, a UK-based Disability Arts Online (DAO) provides a platform for artists with disabilities to showcase their work and also serves as a resource for news, events, opportunities, and discussions surrounding disability arts.?

By tapping into these resources, your art organization can take significant steps towards becoming more accessible and inclusive. Remember, accessibility is not just a legal requirement; it's a commitment to ensuring that the beauty and power of the arts are available to everyone.

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A list of organisations and resources mentioned in the article:?

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): Offers advocacy and technical assistance to make the arts accessible for all. https://www.arts.gov/?

The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council: Provides the Arts Accessibility Planning Guide, a self-survey tool for small arts organizations. https://mrac.org/?

Accessibility in the Arts: A Promise and a Practice: A guide by artist Carolyn Lazard for small-scale arts nonprofits. https://promiseandpractice.art/?

Design for Accessibility: A Cultural Administrator’s Handbook: Developed by various organizations, including the NEA. https://www.arts.gov/about/publications/design-accessibility-cultural-administrators-handbook?

Arts Access Australia: An example of global art institutions innovating in accessibility. https://artsaccessaustralia.org/?

The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD): Focuses on inclusive design in arts and culture, offering consulting services and educational programs. https://humancentereddesign.org/?

UserWay.org: Provides information on creating physically accessible art spaces, including wheelchair ramps, tactile art exhibits, and sensory-friendly environments. https://userway.org/?

Kids Included Together (KIT): Offers training and resources for creating a disability-inclusive art space. https://www.kit.org/?

Disability Arts Online (DAO): A UK-based platform for artists with disabilities, offering resources, news, events, and discussions. https://disabilityarts.online/?