As a disabled woman my biggest hurdle that I have to stride isn’t the everyday mundane physical hurdles like getting dressed, doing house work and making sure that my wheelchair is charged up enough to get me through the day; my biggest hurdles come with the everyday interaction with people and helping them get passed the “elephant in the room,” (my disability) and help them see who I am as a person.
As a freelance photographer that can be tough in some aspects but I usually let my images do my talking for me and it is my hope that when people see my work they forget about the wheelchair that the photographer was sitting in. The curator of Art Beyond Boundaries, Jymi Bolden shares my philosophy and has made it the backbone of the Over the Rhine gallery.
Through the power of Facebook I have been able to network with many art organizations and meet some extremely talented people who are both encouraging and inspiring. I found Art Beyond Boundaries through this process and read how they promote artists with disabilities, through professional development and art shows.
As my friend Nic Vitori and I walked in to the gallery I expected to see attention called to disability like the neon sign that society would have us wear and pictures put up on the wall as if it were artwork on a refrigerator. My cynicism, contributed to years of working as a disability and intimacy advocate, were quickly extinguished as we entered the gallery. We were met with high ceilings, hardwood floors, beautiful lighting and not one of the fore-mentioned neon signs that this was a gallery for people with disabilities, no, it was an art gallery…period. I eagerly looked at all the displays and b-lining to the photography and I was please to see the beautiful work that was presented in a professional manner. There wasn’t one thing that screamed disability there was just the brilliant artwork of talented artists whose work could sit side by side with any other artists work and you would never know the difference.
Meeting Mr. Bolden was also an amazing experience. He is an accomplished photographer and painter whose work can be seen from City Beat, to Taste of Cincinnati and the huge painting on the side of a building on I-71. He graciously hosted us and showed us around the gallery, explaining how it worked and invited me to submit for the upcoming show… (he didn’t have to ask me twice)
The opening of their next exhibit which I am blessed to be a part of is celebrating 3 years in their Over the Rhine location. “3 PEAT… and it’s fun now!”, opens February 12, 2010, 6-9 pm and runs to March 26th. Art Beyond Boundaries is located at 1410 Main Street, Cincinnati, Ohio.
I hope to see you there!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much for sharing this! It’s a space I was not aware of and will be checking out in the next coming weeks!
classic
Thanks for sharing! I’ve walked past the space a few times, and have oohed and ahed over how fun the exterior was – I will make a point of getting inside to check it out!
Dark Martha
Nice post and thanks for the heads-up… will check out the sho fo sho!