Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba

Including artists and audiences with disabilities into all facets of the arts community.

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History of Activities

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  • History of Activities
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  • AANM continued our Digital Now Project with our monthly solo exhibitions online and in our small gallery space. We were able to present artwork from 10 visual artists from Manitoba and across Canada, one recorded spoken word performance and one comedy set. In total over 200 visitors came through the gallery to view exhibitions with over 900 views of the artwork on our website.  The comedy set had 25 attendees to the live performance with over 50 views of the recorded set.
  • AANM presented Crip Strength: Art + Body + Mind. This Deaf and disability art festival occurred at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and featured two guest speakers including the honourable senator, Patricia Bovey. There were four performances which included a comedy skit, poetry, dance and burlesque. There was also a juried exhibition of art work from 8 artists. Along with this event AANM created an access guide to allow guests to learn about the accessibility features of the event and venue, information about presenters, performers and artists and a glossary of terms that folks might hear at the event. There were 90 attendees to the event and the recorded event has been viewed over 300 times.
  • AANM’s focus on creating a more accessible art community was successful with two main activities. AANM began to audit venues with an accessibility audit for the arts which was informed, led and created by the Deaf and disability community. AANM has now audited 20+ venues and launched the database which houses all the collected information for the public to view at their leisure. AANM next created an anti-ableist workshop for the arts to fill an existing gap. While there are many organizations that present diversity and anti-oppression workshops, the Deaf and disability community and their barriers are often not discussed. The anti-ableist workshops were attended by over 100 arts workers and artists to learn the history of the Deaf and disability community in Canada,  the barriers they face, the advocacy work that has been done.
  • AANM partnered with Creative Manitoba to create a series of workshops called Creative Accessibility which provides workshops for Deaf and/or disabled artists and for arts organizations to learn about access and protocols for working with the Deaf and disability communities.
  • AANM staff worked with over 80 members one-on-one to provide aid and guidance in the following areas: grant writing, applying to submissions, correspondence, how to write a CV and artist statement, and wrote many support letters for our members and other arts organizations.
  • One-on-one: over 125 one-on-one meetings with members on the topics of: artist statements, artist bios, artist grants, submitting applications to call to artists, correspondence aid, etc.
  • Exhibitions: Six exhibitions with a total of 500 visitors to the gallery and over 700 views of the online gallery. Artists: Jude Palace, Kim Kitchen, L. Zastre, Akayan, Harper Smith, and Katrina Craig
  • Strategic Planning: Meetings began in April 2023 to create a 5-year strategic plan for the organization. The main pillars of the strategic plan are: Organizational Capacity and Sustainability; Member Engagement, Outreach and Communication; Public and Arts Community Presence and Partnerships. These pillars will guide AANM: to grow and diversify core and project funding, increase staff complement, develop volunteer program, outreach to new groups and communities, and much more.
  • Anti-Ableist Workshop:
  • -Grant from the Winnipeg Foundation to create and Anti-Ableist Workshop for the Arts. The workshop features: a history of disability in Canada, a review of the disability right movement in Canada, famous artists with disabilities, notable disability arts organizations in Canada, protocols for working with Deaf and/or disabled artists and professionals, and how to create an accessible event. This new workshop also includes five videos from artists who are d/Deaf and/or disabled to speak about accessibility in the arts.
  • Accessibility Audits: AANM continued to audit arts venues in Winnipeg. 15 venues were audited and added to the database.
  • Discussion Series: AANM began our Discussion Series where we invite facilitators who are d/Deaf and/or disabled who are artists or arts professionals to lead a discussion on various topics such as: Coming Out as a Disabled or d/Deaf Artist, Exploring Difficult Topics in Your Artwork, Celebration and Revolution, etc. These discussion groups have been very robust and well attended with an average of 10 participants for each session.

Partnerships

  • Creative Accessibility: AANM partnered with Creative Manitoba to continue our workshop series called Creative Accessibility. This year we held four workshops: Accessibility for Theatre Audiences, Deaf Protocols, Anti-Ableist Talk, and Grant Accessibility. Each workshop was well attended with an average of 15 participants.
  • AANM Grants: AANM partnered with the Manitoba Arts Council to grant four d/Deaf and/or disabled artists $2,000. There were 38 application, and four artists were chosen to receive grants.
  • Disability Matters Vote 2023: Poster Contest to raise awareness of disability issues in the provincial elections. Event brought in over 200 people. 10 applications were submitted and 3 winners chosen.
  • ARCA Conference: AANM aided ARCA to organize their conference “Pathways Together”  in Winnipeg. AANM Facilitated discussion on accessibility in the arts with Karina Cardona, Alice Crawford and Tara Davis. Received excellent feedback from the panel. 70 Attendees
  • Student Intern: Partnered with Maples Met School to work with a student intern with disabilities. Intern aided with openings, hanging art, how to write an art grant, organizing and hosting a student art exhibition which will be opening in the next fiscal year.
  • Wingspan: AANM partnered with Wingspan out of B.C. which is a project that brings D/deaf and/or disabled artists to work in K-12 schools with students to teach them their art practice and disability pride. This program previously occurred in 2019 in B.C. and this year the program was brought across Canada and occurred in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto. This program saw six artists across Canada work with five schools. The final showcase of the children’s work with the artists will be presented in the upcoming fiscal year.

Exhibitions and use of gallery / office space

  • Friends of a Sick Girl by Gabby Da Silva. 37 in-person visitors and 15 views on the website.
  • – Alice Crawford – Who’s at the Party (2). 62 in-person visitors and 20 views on the website
  • – Salima Punjani PROGRESSION, Digital exhibition. 90 views on the website
  • – Sassy Wheels Burlesque. Opening night was well attended with 37 visitors. The video has been viewed 20 times on YouTube and 20 times on our website.
  • – Hope Flynn “Bird of Canada”. Opening night was well attended with 20 visitors and 21 views on the website.
  • – Claire Johnston “27” was an incredible success with 215 visitors on the opening reception and 20 visitors throughout the month. Claire requested that there not be an online version of the exhibition so it was only available to view in the gallery.
  • -Kay Kassirer, Poetry. Kay’s set was recorded in September and was released on October 3, 2024 on AANM’s website. There have been 22 views on our YouTube page.
  • Neurohilarity utilized AANM’s gallery space for an exhibition by Angela Taylor. 27 people attended the opening.

One-on-one Membership Work

  • ED met with over 100 artists throughout the year to speak about grants, bios, artist statements, accessibility, correspondence, submissions, etc.

Outreach

  • ED participated in a panel discussion at the Manitoba Arts Network Showcase “Cultivating New Audiences Through Relationships” in Brandon. The panel was well attended with 35 attendees.
  • Ed met with other arts organizers as part of the Manitoba Arts Network Showcase to assist improve the reach of the event and accessibility
  • Ed spoke at Storefront Manitoba panel discussion about accessibility and design. Storefronts mission is “celebrating design ideas that transform our shared spaces toward a sustainable built world that inspires and benefits all”. The panel discussion included a short presentation about AANM and how we engage with accessibility followed by questions related to accessibility and design. The event was well attended with 25 participants.
  • ED met with MET Maples School student and their adviser to learn more about disability art and AANM.
  • ED spoke with Red River Students from the Disability and Community Support Program to speak about Arts Advocacy and AANM’s work
  • E.D. flew to Halifax to participate in the IMMA conference (Media Arts Gathering) with travel paid by ARCA. E.D. participated in the discussions and ensured accessibility and access for artist and audiences were acknowledged and discussed.
  • ED Flew to Ottawa for Day on the Hill and to attend Confluence hosted by the Canada Council for the Arts. Discussions included: advocacy for the arts, diversifying funding, HR, and other topics. ED also spoke with folks outside scheduled talks to speak about accessibility in the arts, how to be more accessible, identifying barriers, and connecting with the Deaf and disability communities.
  • ED Attending the Winnipeg Foundation Youth in Philanthropy conference where they met with many students to speak about AANM. Over 200 students attended the event.
  • ED accompanied Randy Joint from MAC for a panel on the arts at the WAG for a Winnipeg Leadership Program

Events

  • Deaf and disability arts meet up occurred monthly throughout the year. These meetings allowed Manitoban Deaf and disability arts organizations to connect and speak about our events and support each other.
  • Collin Van Uchelen Resonance & Cross-Sensory Translation in Pyrotechnic Arts presentation occurred in partnership with Video Pool. 15 attendees, very good for mother’s day!
  • Debbie Patterson Artist talk: This event was facilitated by Sacha as ED was on holidays. The event was well attended with 6-8 participants.

Programming

  • Accessibility Audits:ED and Peter Tonge went to Brandon to audit three spaces: the AGSM, the library and the U of B art school exhibition space.
  • Launch of Anti-ableist workshops for the arts at the WAG, Funded by the Winnipeg Foundation Launch occurred on June 27th. Attendance was average with approx. 15-20 folks in person and another 10 online. Pat Bovey spoke.
  • Discussion Series: The discussion series was an opportunity for deaf and disabled artist to speak professionally about their work and the barriers they face. This program continued from the previous year.
  • What Should d/Deaf and Disabled Art Be in the Professional Art World? 8 attendees.
  • Celebration and Revolution with Sheri Nault. 6 attendees. Sheri gave a fantastic  presentation and great discussion ensued around mental health, disability art and the disability art community.
  • Crip Technoscience Panel occurred. There were 11 participants with the three facilitators  giving excellent presentations. The video is available to view on our YouTube page.

Partnerships

Creative Accessibility: Across Canada. This is a yearly partnership between Creative Manitoba and AANM to bring training on accessibility, Deaf and disability art, and other relevant topics for d/Deaf and/or disabled artists, admin workers and audiences.

  • Tangled occurred on June 18th. Sean Lee presented on Tangled’s work to 15 participants. The presentation was very engaging and participants were able to learn about Tangled and their progressive work in the arts sphere.
  • Creative Users occurred on June 20th. Lindsey Fisher presented on Creative Users work and how they connect with Deaf and disability arts community across Canada. 8 participants attended
  • The Black Triangle Art Collective occurred. Well attended with 10 participants.
  • Debbie Patterson occurred. Well attended with 12 participants.
  • Amy Amantea occurred. 8 Participants.
  • Flash Fest: AANM partnered with La Maison and Diana Thorneycroft to present an exhibition of Deaf and disability photographers. Six artist were chosen to present at La Maison: Susan Aydan Abbott, Michel Dumont, Natalie Goulet, Heidi Philips. Shivanya Ra and Harper K. Smith. Three artist were also chosen to show at AANM for a smaller Flash Fest show: Kelly-Jo Dorvault, Douglas Ingram and Marie LeBlanc. The exhibitions will occur in April 2025
  • Partnered with MB Underground Opera to present “Playtime”. Event was sold out (30 tickets) but only 15 attended. Everyone had a wonderful time. Because of all the construction happening in the area, the event was moved to C2 space instead of the East parking lot at the office.
  • Everything Analog with Heidi Phillips: AANM partnered with Heidi Phillips to bring a residency for analog film for d/Deaf and/or disabled artists. This grant was provided by Heidi Phillip and the Manitoba Arts Council. Jury to select participants occurred and four artists were chosen to participate: Sacha Kopelow, Susan Aydan Abbott, Samantha Sarty, and Nic Kanesky. Residency went well with artists learning lots and enjoying the work. Heidi would like to run this program again next year.

Wingspan

  • Five disabled artists from three provinces worked with 5 schools to conduct a residency with their students to teach their art practice and disability pride and justice. The students ranged from grade 3 to grade 12. The residencies occurred in schools in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto. The artists were: Jugpreet Bajwa, Connor Derraugh, Candace Lipischak, Danielle Hyde and Felicia Byron. Each province has a showcase to share what they learned:
  • BC for Wingspan Showcase. The event was well attended (approx. 50 attendees) including the Honorable Carla Qualtrough, the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity who read a message from the Prime Minister. The students from Seaquam Secondary and Delta School worked with singer Jugpreet Bajwa and presented an hour-long showcase which included solo singing, small group singing and large group singing performances. Connor Derraugh from Winnipeg performed with Cordelia Donovan.
  • Winnipeg Wingspan Showcase. The event was attended by approx. 25 attendees including MLA Nellie Kennedy who spoke briefly. The students of Greenway School worked with artist Candace Lipischak and created artwork and a Crankie for the showcase. Students from Churchill High worked with musician Connor Derraugh to learn musical pieces and singing. The hour-long showcase featured the Crankie by the Greenway students and solo and small group singing performances by the Churchill high students.
  • Toronto for the final Wingspan Showcase. The event was a private event which took place at Oasis Alternative Secondary School. Students worked with visual artist Danielle Hyde and photographer Felicia Byron. Students created multiple group art installations and artwork which was displayed in the school. During the Showcase students described their participation in the art projects, shared poetry and shared a video about their process.
  • ED flew to Vancouver for the premier of the Wingspan Video. The event occurred at the U of B campus. Connor Derraugh from Winnipeg came as well and performed for the event along with Jugpreet Bajwa, the artist from Vancouver. The event was well attended with 50 people in person and approximately 20 people online.

AANM Grants

With the support of the Manitoba Arts Council, AANM awards four grants yearly of $2000 each for d/Deaf and/or Disabled artists. Jury met for AANM Grants, the winners are: Katrina Craig, Lindsey White, Sacha Kopelow and Hailley Rhoda.

PTE Partnership

AANM partnered with Prairie Theatre Exchange to bring d/Deaf and/or Disabled artists artwork to their lobby. For each scheduled play a new artist was installed. Artist selected include: Ryan Smoluk, Sacha Kopelow, Jude Palace, Kathleen Shellrude, and Brook Drabot.

View the History Archive