Open Access Online Workshop: Organizing Accessibility from the Grassroots

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Carmen Papalia performing White Cane Amplified in Ottawa in 2017. (hhoto by Kristin Rochelle Lantz. Courtesy of Carmen Papalia)

In 2015, Vancouver-based artist Carmen Papalia responded to the failures that he experienced as a recipient of institutional disability support services by proposing Open Access; a conceptual framework for accessibility that moves beyond a policy or accommodation-based model by providing guidelines for mutual care. When put into practice, Open Access problematizes the typical roles of institutionalized care by encouraging participants to collectively envision a space that suits their needs, then share accountability towards that vision and organize accessibility from the grassroots.

In this workshop about establishing a new context for accessibility in a landscape of restrictive programs and prescriptive regimes, Papalia will introduce participants to the Open Access framework and illustrate the various ways that he has made use of it in his last 10 years working as an artist. Participants from organizations and institutions that serve the public will have the opportunity to reconsider their accessibility and public engagement practices towards the goal of a relational accessibility program that evolves with the culture of the public that they serve. In one-on-one and small group activities, participants will consider their work in relation to the guiding principles of Open Access; inspiring a broad reframing of the ways institutions engage those at the margins.