Voices from the Field: What We Learned from a Disability Arts Listening Session
For decades the National Endowment for the Arts has worked to support and draw attention to the work of disabled artists through grant making, special initiatives, and highlights on our website, blogs, and podcasts. Over the past 25 years we have held numerous conversations, research studies, online policy dialogues, and convenings at the national and state level on how to support careers in the arts for people with disabilities. These include two national summits, 28 statewide forums on careers in the arts, a roundtable on the future of Deaf theater, two online policy dialogues with the U.S. Department of Labor, a Toolkit on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities, and field scans on the intersections of disability and design, and, most recently, on disability and dance, which will be published in the next few months.
From these conversations we have learned much about the key barriers to working in the arts for individuals with disabilities. These include limited arts education and training opportunities due to inaccessible facilities and inflexibility of instructors, limited funding opportunities, isolation of artists with disabilities from each other and the greater arts community, difficulties maintaining crucial public benefits and supports and earning income, and, finally, disability not always being addressed as part of diversity and equity efforts in the field.
We have also found in recent years more attention to and voicing of the access accommodations needs that artists require to do their work safely and productively. In any workplace, we all have tools and policies that help us do our jobs. These can include access accommodations, such as assistive technology, ergonomic workspaces and solutions, physical changes to the workspace, and workplace flexibilities and other policies that can help us manage our physical and mental health needs. Arts and culture work environments are no different, whether people are engaging in the creative process, performing or presenting, teaching, or doing administrative or managerial work. Arts employers need to be prepared to provide accommodations so artists can do their work in the most productive, healthy, and safe environment, just as in any other sector.
To get a better idea of artist access needs, on September 30, 2024, the NEA held a national, virtual, public listening session. Approximately 150 participants gathered to discuss the following topics:
- Barriers: The barriers that artists with disabilities, both apparent and/or non-apparent, face when creating or presenting their work in performances, galleries, studios, classes, auditions, rehearsals, etc.
- What’s needed: The best practices and examples of successful access accommodations and environments for artistic creation, learning, presentation, exhibition, and performance.
- The ideal scenario: A “blue sky” vision for the best environment for artistic creation and learning that accommodates people’s access needs.
Participants had the opportunity to speak during the session or submit comments in writing. They represented artists and other cultural workers with both acquired and lifelong disabilities, from a range of arts organizations and communities across the country. The goal of the session was to help the NEA understand what artists need from arts employers, educators, funders, and policymakers to make creating, presenting, and learning environments productive, healthy, and safe for all arts workers and arts learners.
In a series of blogs over the next few months we will dig into what we learned from the listening session and what arts employers, educators, funders, and policymakers can learn and build on, starting with what participants said were among the barriers to working in the arts.
In addition to new challenges, many of the same issues that have historically been barriers emerged as still posing challenges for artists:
Asset limits. Many disabled artists fear losing disability benefits if they earn income from an arts commission, grant, fellowship, or performing gig. Disability benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) come with critical health insurance (i.e. Medicaid), but they also place a cap on assets. Asset restrictions are typically around $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples, which prevents many independent artists from receiving income for selling work, applying for or accepting fellowships or grants, or accepting a role in a production. This asset limit has been at the same level since 1989 and is a significant barrier for many independent artists who can’t afford to lose these benefits and health insurance. As one artist pointedly asked, “How do I get the work done if I can’t accept the grant?”
Lack of Accessibility. Inaccessibility continues to be a barrier, despite legal requirements that have been in place for many decades. This includes buildings without elevators or ramps; scripts or sheet music that is not provided in alternative formats such as large print or digital formats; lack of ASL interpreters, captioning, or audio description; and lack of support for neurodivergent people or those with intellectual disabilities to work comfortably in many arts environments. Some feel they can’t speak up to request accommodations for fear of losing opportunities. As one participant wrote, “No one wants to feel like a burden or different. They want to be artists, teachers, and artists without preconceived stigmas.” Costs and lack of funding to provide accommodations was also mentioned as a barrier. Issues around accessibility further extended into the grant application process, which will be discussed in more detail in the next blog post.
Relaxing of COVID-19 safety protocols. The COVID-19 pandemic brought additional concern about the safety of work environments. Many in the disability community are worried about COVID-19 transmission since the virus is still present. Many people with disabilities are vulnerable to the illness, and Long COVID can be disabling. Participants pointed out that many arts spaces have stopped requiring masks or using air filtration. For many artists with disabilities, the loosening of COVID-19 safety protocols means they are unable to participate in arts opportunities. As one participant shared, “I would like to be able to return to an artist colony and work…. It is impossible without the awareness of COVID-19 safety precautions.” Others echoed this sentiment, including an arts organization representative who expressed their concern about the lack of organizational policies around COVID: “Individuals are placed with the ownership of mitigating a deadly and disabling virus. Those in leadership and power roles are not wearing masks or providing virus security across the board. This is disconcerting. This is concerning for me as an arts organization.”
Emotional labor in educating about disability. Participants described the emotional and mental toll of having to educate others about one’s disability, particularly when it comes to asking for an accommodation. An artist who is a cancer survivor shared: “I have begun asking for accommodation[s] for grant proposals…This was because I cannot manage all of the parts [of the application]. What I have realized [is] it is very tough having to say all of this every time, by then I am tired, my fatigue level can vary. I do not know how else to describe, it brings out the worst in me. I want to cry and give up.” This emotional toll is exacerbated by having to repeatedly ask for accommodations.
These comments and findings only scratch the surface of the barriers disabled artists are experiencing. There is much to learn from this conversation, which both reinforced the long-standing barriers and introduced ones that were new to us. We hope that arts employers, educators, funders, and policymakers will listen to these voices as they share what they need to do their work safely and productively.
In the next blog post we will address the second topic from the listening session: best practices and examples of successful access accommodations and environments for artistic creation, learning, presentation, exhibition, and performance.
Post-script note: We would like to thank author and communications consultant Emily Ladau for her assistance in synthesizing the findings from this listening session, as well as the participants who contributed to the conversation.
Beth Bienvenu is the director of the Office of Accessibility at the National Endowment for the Arts, where she manages the NEA's technical assistance and advocacy work devoted to making the arts accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people in institutional settings.
Katharine Hayward is the NEA’s Accessibility Specialist.
