This page archives some of the Disability Equity Center’s past projects and collaborations, including:
- Art for All
- #BeautyForAccess Sidewalk Chalk Art Campaign
Art for All
“Art for All” was a series of free online art classes for people of all abilities that took place in 2020. This artist-in-residency partnership and multi-event project was sponsored by Cornerstone Associates and the Disability Equity Center. Artist collaborators included Celeste Gutentag, Andrew Myers, and Bruce Burris. Here was the description used to publicize the “Local Rivers” event:
“This July 13th to 24th, Cornerstone Associates and the Disability Equity Center of Corvallis invite everyone to participate in Art for All, a virtual art-making event with the theme of ‘local rivers.’ From the Willamette River to the rugged coast, water connects Oregonians. Join us daily from 2:00–3:30pm, Monday through Friday the week of July 13th, as visual artist Andrew Myers leads participants of all abilities in a real-time, collaborative art-making journey about our local rivers as unifying natural forces bringing diverse people together. Participants can join in by calling, emailing, and chatting online about the work. For details, send an email to Bruce Burris. Many thanks to the Benton County Cultural Coalition and Willamette University for their important partnerships on this endeavor.”
#BeautyForAccess
In Summer 2020, the DEC partnered with Oregon State University’s ADA30 Committee to host a “chalk it up” campaign in downtown Corvallis. Here was the public call for participation:
#BeautyForAccess: Calling All Artists and Activists!
DEC and the OSU ADA30 Anniversary Committee are collaborating on a sidewalk chalk art campaign called #BeautyForAccess in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA30). You can join this “chalk it up” campaign in two ways:
- Join our kick-off event on September 1st, 9:00am–12:00pm outside at the downtown Corvallis riverfront. RSVP by August 28th.
- Use chalk to beautify sidewalks, driveways, and spaces near your home throughout the month of September.
How it works: Participants, including disabled people and their friends, families, and caregivers, will use chalk to beautify spaces (e.g. sidewalks, plazas, driveways, storefronts) that are more and less welcoming and accessible to disabled people. What spaces and places are you able to access? Where is it more difficult? Let’s call beautiful attention to these locations.
As part of their sidewalk piece, artists should include the Beauty For Access icon: the accessible icon with a flower in or around the wheel of the wheelchair (see photos below for examples). Artists are encouraged to play around with colors and design! If you are unable to draw the icon, please adapt as it is best for you. Just be sure to add one of the hashtags to link to this campaign! During the September 1st kick-off, for those who cannot or prefer not to make chalk art pieces, participants also have the option to make ADA awareness campaign signs that will be distributed throughout Corvallis. We will provide chalk, stencils, sign-making and other art materials.
Participants then will post a picture of their chalk art or sign on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter using the hashtags #BeautyforAccess, #ADA30, and #ChalkItUp. The accompanying social media campaign will be linked to more information about the ADA and senior and disability services via the DEC. For participants who are not social media users, emailed photos of sidewalk chalk art can be posted on the DEC’s social media and website.
Creating public art is a low-stakes, aesthetically-pleasing way to invite community members and local businesses throughout Corvallis into dialogue about disability and accessibility; to clarify, we envision dialogues stimulated by encounters with chalk art taking place virtually (e.g. through social media, the DEC online network) rather than in real-time during art creation.
Our Covid-19 Protocols: We know that Covid-19 disproportionately impacts people with disabilities and underlying conditions. We aim for all of our activities to be carried out as safely and mindfully as possible. For the group that will participate in the September 1st kick-off, we ask that folks participate as individuals or in small groups of 2-4 people who already share a living space (e.g. disabled individuals and their caregivers, parents, or children). Sidewalk art pieces should be created at as great a social distance as the space allows (absolutely no less than 6 feet). We will require mask-wearing at all times.
