Artists Leah Clements, Lizzy Rose and writer Alice Hattrick have launched of a brand new online resource for disabled artists. The website Access Docs for Artists, will go live at 5pm on Tuesday 26th March. The website provides practical information for artists thinking about making an access document.
What is an access document? An access doc is a document outlines your disability access needs. You might make one so that you can give it to galleries/institutions/organisations when you start working with them on a project, such as a gallery you’re doing a show at for example, to let them know what you need them to facilitate to make sure you have equal access to work.
The website provides practical information on making an access documents as well as input from institutions Wysing Arts, the ICA and Chisenhale Gallery on when best to use one and what kind of information would be helpful for them.
Why is this important? Over the course of the year we have been discussing our shared experiences of working as artists with disabilities and other disabled artists. During a three week residency with Wysing Arts Centre we spoke to artists from the USA, part of the group the Canaries, and learned that some of them used access documents to facilitate working relationships in the art world. We began thinking about our shared experiences and how we might help create practical changes in the art world to better conditions for disabled artists.
“It isn’t about setting a list of demands but more about working with organisations to make it so you can work with them. Making an access document helped me to figure out where my condition creates barriers for me and helped me to think about practical changes which could help me participate where this is possible. It can be really simple, such as needing a chair, or a later starting time to a meeting, up to needing more technical assistance.” - Lizzy Rose
The website will go live at 5pm on Wednesday 26th March 2019.
You can visit it here at www.accessdocsforartists.com
Please contact Leah for more information leah@leahclements.com or Lizzy at lizzy@lizzyrose.co.uk