In the spring of 2020, the art world was extraordinarily quick to adopt accessibility measures that included offerings like virtual exhibition walkthroughs, remote panels, studio visits, and artist talks.¹ At the time, a disabled friend of mine said that she was able attend more events in those first couple months, and had felt more included in the proverbial public square, than in previous years combined.

The reason we were able to put in place an unprecedented number of accessibility measures with such speed and enthusiasm was because white nondisabled people needed them to access things and to contribute to the cultural discourse in the manor to which we’d been accustomed.

What I’ve been noticing, lately, is that many of those accommodations are going away now that white nondisabled people have returned to some degree of normalcy, now that summer is here, and now that everyone wants to move on with their lives.

I’ve heard a lot of We planned this wonderful outdoor event, so we don’t need to provide remote access because it’s Covid safe.

To this I say two things: First, it’s not Covid safe if people are unmasked and clustered together without an option to socially distance. Second, it doesn’t address the needs of people who require accommodations for non-Covid reasons. It doesn’t make your event wheelchair accessible, or closed captioned, or available to people who are too chronically ill to get out of bed.

Why, when we have all of these capabilities already in place—livestreams (either with interpreters or live captioning), recorded video with closed captioning, ways to patch people in through Zoom to create hybrid in-person/remote models of attendence—would we want to eliminate a single one of them whether we’re in the midst of a pandemic or not? By keeping these measures in place, we not only make it possible for disabled and chronically ill arts workers to be featured parts of arts and culture events, we make it possible for disabled and chronically ill members of the community to attend.²

It’s easy to imagine that the effects end there, but it’s not just about whether or not a disabled person can participate in or attend an event. It’s about their ability to live and have experiences with the people they love. To be able to enjoy themselves with friends or family or partners (or to meet interesting strangers they wouldn’t otherwise cross paths with). These experiences ripple out to all the people in their lives.

I’ve spoken to a number of chronically ill and disabled arts workers who’ve had to turn down opportunities that they badly wanted to take part in because accessibility has been abandoned.³ The loss is not just theirs. We are losing the benefit of their presence, their voices, and their perspectives.

So here’s my plea to all the white nondisabled folks reading this:

If you are asked to be a featured presenter at an event, in addition to asking about the racial and gender diversity of other featured guests, inquire about the organization’s accessibility plans for both presenters and attendees. Tell them that these are your conditions for participation.⁴ And please use your voices now. It’s much easier to get institutions to continue doing something than it is to get them to restart something they’ve given up.

If you’re someone who’s in a planning or decision-making position, consider making permanent all of the accommodations that you’ve worked so hard to put in place over the last two years. And make sure that you mention those accommodations in all of your publicity and marketing materials so that people who require them know they exist.

I understand the complication of these things in the art space, I really do. I know that organizations are underfunded and arts workers are grossly underpaid and that everything I’m asking for requires additional labor and, in some cases, additional funds. I get it.

But this is one of the ways that we make a better art world and a better world in general, and sometimes it’s that simple.

My goal for OUT OF THE BOX has always been to grow and serve this community, so I’d love to hear what you’d like to see more of.

I know that most of us are beyond capacity, so let’s make it easy. Simply drop the letter(s) of things you want to see more of in the comments section, or hit reply to this email if you want to keep it private. Feel free to elaborate as much as you like or not at all.

More please:

A. Exhibition reviews (like this one or this one)

B. Artists profiles (like this one or this one)

C. Cultural criticism (like this, this, or this)

D. Longer-form reported pieces (like this or this)

E. Lyrical essays (like this or this)

F. Insert other desires here (discussion threads, artist-specific content, info about collecting, or anything else you can dream up)

Thank you for any feedback you want to offer. And please know that you’re welcome to reach out anytime with ideas or thoughts (my only ask is that you keep it constructive and kind).