ARTH 23
Art and Access: Disability Justice as Subject, Material, and Form in Contemporary Art Winter 2025

This course offers an introduction to the principles of Disability Justice and Crip theory through the lens of contemporary art. A number of recent exhibitions have foregrounded the work of artists whose work both represents and critically examines the experience of disability in its social, aesthetic, and political dimensions. We will be charting the emergence of a cohesive history of art and accessibility through specific objects and techniques, with particular attention paid to the formal aspects of accommodations, from captions to image description, to accessible architecture and language justice, among others. Discussion of selected essays by noted scholars and practitioners will frame our investigation of the key themes and concerns operating in artworks that consider accessibility overtly, as subject, material, and form. In addition to short weekly writing assignments, students will be asked to complete one research project on a topic related to explorations of accessibility in contemporary art-this research project may be in the form of a manuscript, curatorial proposal, or mixed-method creative project. Finally, we will schedule field trips throughout the course to nearby institutions to conduct informal ‘accessibility audits’, taking into account the way arts organizations construct visitor experience through wayfinding, guides, exhibition materials, and other accommodations-in anticipation of specific audiences.