Set sail for an adventure like no other, full of twists and turns. Together we’ll meet indulgent Lotus Eaters and seductive Sirens who test our focus, and face terrifying monsters who test our wit and our courage. As we follow Odysseus on his Journey, the ensemble reflects on choice and agency and the hero in all of us…
A.B.L.E.—Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations—a Chicago-based nonprofit that creates theatre and film for, with, and by individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), is thrilled to return to Chicago Shakespeare Theater this spring with a re-imagining of the epic classic The Odyssey.
A.B.L.E’s production weaves music, movement, shadow puppetry, and scenes devised by the group into a powerful and joyful celebration of the choices we make, and the challenges we face along our journey. The vibrant adaptation features a neurodiverse cast of 44 performers, including 24 actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The performance in the Courtyard Theater on May 11, 2024 at 2pm will mark the two companies’ 7th collaboration, most recently having co-produced A Midsummer Night’s Dream last spring.
Accessibility: Sensory Friendly, ASL, captions
Calm Waters is an exclusive event for guests with disabilities and Veterans to explore Shedd Aquarium’s exhibits and experiences in a comfortable and accepting environment. Modifications for this event will include limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration.
Modifications for Calm Waters Include:
-Limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration
-A sensory friendly app
-A low-sensory animal spotlight
-An animal encounter opportunity
-Complimentary 4D experiences during the event
-Family members and companions are welcome.
-Audio description for the Animal Spotlight
Cost
Adults (12+)
Chicago Residents – $19.95
Non-Residents – $39.95
Children (Ages 3-11)
Chicago Residents – $14.95
Non-Residents – $29.95
Transportation to Shedd
Take CTA’s 146 Museum Campus bus to our door, or parking will be available for $30 in the surface lot between Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum.
Drop-off is available at Shedd’s bus loop on the south side of the building.
Be sure to check for traffic and parking alerts.
Accommodation Requests?
Please contact us (312-939-2438) at least one week before the event.
Visitors with severe disabilities may be accompanied by paid personal care attendants (PCA). Please call 312-939-2438 to request complimentary companion tickets for a paid PCA.
Additional information available at: https://www.sheddaquarium.org/plan-a-visit/accessibility/calm-waters
Curb Appeal Gallery is pleased to announce our second exhibition “Genevieve Ramos: Crip Paint Power”. This exhibition debuts new work created as part of Ramos’s Feminist Crip Paint Power, a multi-year project exploring the love, care, and interdependency in disability communities through the lens of disability justice and feminism. Stemming from relationships with disabled BIPOC femmes and through a series of curated interviews and photoshoots in partnership with the photographer Colectivo Multipolar, “Crip Paint Power” features four portraits of leaders in Chicago’s rich disability network, including community organizers Candace Coleman and Michelle Garcia, artist and educator Sandie (Chun-Shan) Yi, and the artist activist Reveca Torres. The exhibition includes a documentary film and zine created in collaboration with the Disability Culture Activism Lab at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the close of “Crip Paint Power”, the portraits of Coleman, Garcia, Torres, and Yi will be on permanent display at the Disability Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Curb Appeal is an apartment gallery located in the Heart of Chicago, run by Todd Garon and Sandy Guttman. As an organization, we are interested in the intersection of art and accessibility. We draw inspiration from the neighborhood topology of our historic storefront space and its visibility to the community in which we are sited. Our large windows and sidewalk stoop encourage passersby to peer in as well as invite themselves into our live/workspace. Grounded in the idea of “home” with an ethic of accessibility, Curb Appeal reimagines what both an apartment and a gallery can be.
For more information, please contact info@curbappeal.gallery.
Curb Appeal is wheelchair accessible. As part of the exhibition, there is a documentary film that is open captioned. All the paintings include image descriptions, made available through QR code. Additionally, the zine that accompanies the work is available on the Curb Appeal website. Masks are required for entry and will be provided if needed. Please note, Curb Appeal is an apartment gallery and doubles as a home to our gallery dog.
LabE is a series of monthly cohort meetings addressing particular needs of disabled dance artists.
The LabE gathering on July 2nd is designed to be a safe, disability-centric space where artists can come together to share a work-in-progress, try out new ideas, workshop concepts, and experiment with new scores. Hosted by Maggie Bridger, this inclusive event is open to all artists who seek a supportive community where they can connect with peers who share similar experiences and offer and receive support, encouragement, and constructive feedback.
This gathering aims to foster community connections among Deaf, disabled, sick, neurodivergent, and Mad artists while providing a platform for artists to explore their creativity and showcase their unique perspectives.
If you are an artist who is interested in showcasing your art or working through new ideas, please reach out to Maggie at mbridg8@uic.edu to participate in this event.
LabE is a series of monthly cohort meetings addressing particular needs of disabled dance artists.
During our May meeting we’ll pool our knowledge around writing funding applications. Whether you’ve written several successful applications or are just beginning the process of writing your first application, this space is for you. Depending on the needs of the group, this may look like spending time quietly co-writing, passing around drafts to get feedback, discussing strategies for framing our work as disabled artists in applications, or developing a list of funding opportunities to share with the community.
LabE is open to all Chicago-area dance artists who self-identify as Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing, sick, mad, neurodivergent, disabled or living with a disability, and/or who have lived experience with disability or impairment. This space is particularly meant for those interested in exploring disability and impairment-informed modes of practicing dance.
Additional Access Information is available here:
https://highconceptlabs.org/news-2/labe-launches-at-experimental-station
For any other questions or requests regarding accessibility accommodations, please contact HCL’s Accessibility Coordinator, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla (yolanda@highconceptlabs.org).
This spring, A.B.L.E. returns to the stage and our classical roots with a multimedia version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, updated for our social-media obsessed times. Our modern adaptation by A.B.L.E. teaching artist Emma MacLean focuses on the themes of connection and disconnection. The king and queen of the fairies are fighting, the mechanicals are rehearsing a play but no one knows their lines, and the Athenian teens keep changing their relationship status. Join ABLE’s ensembles – 34 actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities as we miss texts, drop calls, and wander love struck in the Athenian forest.
This multimedia production will weave Shakespeare’s words with original scenes, monologues, songs, and dances devised by our ensembles, as well as animated film sequences from VFX designer Brock Alter. The virtual ensemble will narrate the tale for us as the in-person ensembles take the stage Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
With your ticket, you have the option of participating in a 45 minute interactive workshop led by A.B.L.E.’s team of Creative Associates and Teaching Artists. Audiences can experience some of the games and activities A.B.L.E. used to bring their ideas to the stage, get a touch tour of key costume pieces and props, and try A.B.L.E.’s signature “dropping in” method. This exclusive opportunity is only available to 20 ticket holders each day – reserve your spot when booking your ticket.
Event Details:
Sunday June 11th at 2pm (pre-show workshop & touch tour at 12:30pm)
Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago IL 60611
Tickets: All tickets are Pay-what-you-can, general admission
Online: ableensemble.com/events
Phone: 312.595.5600
In person: at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater box office
Access: Performances will be open captioned and dual ASL interpreted.
COVID Policies: To ensure A.B.L.E.’s immunocompromised performers and community members feel safe and welcome, all audience members must remain masked for the duration of their time in the theater complex.
This spring, A.B.L.E. returns to the stage and our classical roots with a multimedia version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, updated for our social-media obsessed times. Our modern adaptation by A.B.L.E. teaching artist Emma MacLean focuses on the themes of connection and disconnection. The king and queen of the fairies are fighting, the mechanicals are rehearsing a play but no one knows their lines, and the Athenian teens keep changing their relationship status. Join ABLE’s ensembles – 34 actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities as we miss texts, drop calls, and wander love struck in the Athenian forest.
This multimedia production will weave Shakespeare’s words with original scenes, monologues, songs, and dances devised by our ensembles, as well as animated film sequences from VFX designer Brock Alter. The virtual ensemble will narrate the tale for us as the in-person ensembles take the stage Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
With your ticket, you have the option of participating in a 45 minute interactive workshop led by A.B.L.E.’s team of Creative Associates and Teaching Artists. Audiences can experience some of the games and activities A.B.L.E. used to bring their ideas to the stage, get a touch tour of key costume pieces and props, and try A.B.L.E.’s signature “dropping in” method. This exclusive opportunity is only available to 20 ticket holders each day – reserve your spot when booking your ticket.
Event Details:
Saturday June 10th at 7pm (pre-show workshop & touch tour at 5:30pm)
Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago IL 60611
Tickets: All tickets are Pay-what-you-can, general admission
Online: ableensemble.com/events
Phone: 312.595.5600
In person: at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater box office
Access: Performances will be open captioned and dual ASL interpreted.
COVID Policies: To ensure A.B.L.E.’s immunocompromised performers and community members feel safe and welcome, all audience members must remain masked for the duration of their time in the theater complex.
Hooray! Lucy and Charlie just got hitched…and they’re embracing the worst of the American dream. They do what they want. Take what they want. They’re First Generation Asian American Renegades. In love. And on the run.
Featuring original country western and folk songs, directed by Amanda Dehnert (Peter Pan (A Play), Eastland), Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon tracks a young couple as they rev it down quintessentially American highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way.
Direct from his Broadway debut in Almost Famous The Musical, Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee’s world premiere musical romp gives a nod to America’s past, takes tally of its present, and blows its future wide open.
Mask Required Performances
July 12, 2023, 7:00 PM
https://lookingglasstheatre.org/event/lucy-and-charlies-honeymoon-2022/
Hooray! Lucy and Charlie just got hitched…and they’re embracing the worst of the American dream. They do what they want. Take what they want. They’re First Generation Asian American Renegades. In love. And on the run.
Featuring original country western and folk songs, directed by Amanda Dehnert (Peter Pan (A Play), Eastland), Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon tracks a young couple as they rev it down quintessentially American highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way.
Direct from his Broadway debut in Almost Famous The Musical, Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee’s world premiere musical romp gives a nod to America’s past, takes tally of its present, and blows its future wide open.
Open Captioned performance begins at 7:00 PM.
Please contact our Box Office to reserve your seats!
https://lookingglasstheatre.org/event/lucy-and-charlies-honeymoon-2022/
Our Audio Description and Touch Tour Date for London Road is Friday, May 5. The Touch Tour begins at 6:45 pm, and the show will be at 8:00. Use the code “ACCESS20” for $20 tickets if you plan to take advantage of these accessibility offerings!
Determined and tenacious, the residents of Ipswich, UK mobilize to overcome the immense fear and media circus that unfolds following the serial murder of 5 sex workers in their small town. This experimental and innovative new musical is based on a true story, using verbatim dialogue recorded during interviews with the people of Ipswich. Brought to the American stage for the first time ever, London Road is an uplifting story that reveals how a devastating tragedy can spark empathy and engender community resilience.
This musical is 2 hours 15 minutes, with one intermission.
Masks are mandatory for all patrons for the entire duration of the performance, except when actively drinking beverages.
https://sgtheatre.org/london/
We are delighted to be hosting Maggie Bridger on April 15 as part of her Crafting Care series. In anticipation of her performance “Scale”, Maggie is holding open crafting sessions centered around collectively creating objects of care—including masks, blankets, and cushions. The culmination of our care work, made visible in the items we craft together, will likely be put to use in the performance of “Scale” in May! Feel free to come by Curb Appeal from 2:00-4:00pm on 4/15, and bring any crafting projects you might want to work on.
Additionally, this is the second-to-last week to experience Molly Joyce’s “Perspective” a sound and video work that grapples with the myriad ways in which people experience disability. The work is open captioned. Sound descriptions and image descriptions accompany the video, too.
Curb Appeal is wheelchair accessible. We also have a gallery dog (Momo) who will be present at this program. We’ll continue to mask inside, in consideration of one another. Email us for address and access information: info@curbappeal.gallery.
Limited capacity. Advanced registration is required.
Masking is required for this performance.
Using the pain scale as a primary source material, Scale places medicalized methods of quantifying pain in conversation with alternative ways of reading and attending to pain emerging from the disability community, ultimately proposing new ways of caring for the bodymind in dance. These complex interactions between medicalization, care, and community are explored through movement, video, and the use of access tools for both performers and audience members. Scale invites audience members to attend to their own embodied experience of the piece, offering pillows, blankets, and other care objects as tools for curating the way they engage with and experience the work. Scale poses questions around the ways that we perceive pain, ultimately reaching toward a more compassionate and disability-informed way of creating and performing dance.
Each performance is followed by a Crafting Care event that serves as a sort of informal “talk back” with some of the artists, as well as an opportunity to join in the crafting practice that informed much of the work of Scale. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own crafting projects, participate in a group embroidery project, or simply share space and chat about Scale in community with the artists and other audience members.
COLLABORATORS
Performers: Maggie Bridger, Jordan Brown, Joán Joel, Alex Neil-Sevier, Robby Lee Williams
Costumes and Visual Art: Reveca Torres
Sound Design: Shireen Hamza
Crafters: Margaret Fink, Sandy Guttman, Alison Kopit, Ashley Miller
Access information
ACCESS DURING PERFORMANCE
Captions, American Sign Language, audio descriptions, opportunities to rest, and sensory notes are incorporated into the performance in ways that we hope generate a unique, thoughtful experience for each audience member. The methods we’re using to incorporate these elements into the performance are experimental and may differ from the ways these tools are encountered in other arts spaces. We are continuing to learn, develop, and experiment alongside our community and welcome feedback on these elements, particularly from members of the community that rely on these various tools to access performance.
COVID Protocols:
Masking is required in the performance space. Mana Contemporary, though, is a shared building that does not require masking and there may be unmasked people outside of the performance space. You are welcome to bring your own mask or grab one of the high quality masks available to audience members in both adult and child sizes at the building’s entrance. All performers will be masked, though there is a moment in the work where performers layer masks one on top of the other, which may cause their masking to be less effective for a short period of time.
Arriving at Mana & Wayfinding:
All audience members will enter the ramped entrance to Mana Contemporary located on the west side of the building near the Throop street entrance to the parking lot. Audiences will then be guided through the building to the performance space by the performers, two of whom use ASL and will be able to guide Deaf and hard of hearing audience members. The first 30 minutes of the performance time is dedicated to audience arrival and getting situated in the performance space, so there is no need to rush or worry about arriving precisely on time. There is time to rest, chat, and get settled.
A library around the corner from the performance space will be used as a “quiet space” that folks can use to get a break from the performance, if needed.
Access Tools and Sharing Space:
The show runs about an hour and a half with the first half hour dedicated entirely to audience members arriving and getting settled for the performance. Upon entering the space, audience members will be offered access devices and care tools to help them feel as comfortable as possible throughout the performance. Some of the tools we have available are:
4 blankets
3 small weighted blankets
9 pillows
2 large beanbags
Yoga mats/exercise mats
Instant hot and cold packs
Stim tools
3 ear defenders
In addition to these, you are very welcome to bring your own tools/devices. We invite you to move, stim, rest, and generally make yourself comfortable during the performance. Our tools/devices will be cleaned with scent-free detergent/cleanser between each performance.
We ask that audience members refrain from wearing any scented perfume, cologne, lotion, etc. However, Mana Contemporary is a shared space where tenants will sometimes burn incense or use other scented products. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a fully scent-free environment.
Join us anytime throughout the day for accessible dance events! Have fun while earning how to be more inclusive in your practice. We’ll be moving together, enjoying a showcase of works in progress, watching a short film, engaging and building community that includes dancers with disabilities.
FREE events with adjacent free parking and CTA nearby.
10:00-11:45 Everybody Can Dance inclusive movement workshop.
12:00-12:20 Informal showing of 3 works in progress.
12:20-1:45 Lunch with DIY Access stations open to provide hands on instruction for providing AI captions online.
1:45-2:30 AccepDance workshop (based on Autism Movement Therapy)
2:45-3:00 Film Showing “JMAXX and the Universal Language.”
3:00-3:30 Panel Discussion with JMAXX and the filmmaker
3:30-4:30 Adaptive Hip Hop workshop
Accessibility: ASL interpreted, audio description, captions, wheelchair accessibility
To commemorate Women’s History Month, the Arts & Culture Project at Access Living is partnering to host a virtual film screening and panel discussion of the My Girl Story documentary on Saturday, March 25 from 12-2pm.
This event will explore the importance of mental health care among Black girls and resources available to them and their families.
My Girl follows the lives of two Black girls from Detroit, Monay and Shokana, who are fighting to become the girls they want to be. The documentary aims to give context to what Black girls across the country are experiencing today and to challenge the institutional and systemic barriers that prevent black girls especially those with disabilities from achieving their potential.
Register via Eventbrite to get the Zoom link:
Access Information:
Live CART captioning and ASL will be provided during the panel discussion.
Partners:
My Girl Story
Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition
Access Living
Empowered Fe Fe’s
Sponsor Information: This event is brought to you by the Arts and Culture Project at Access Living, an independent living center for people with disabilities, Bodies of Work: Network of Disability Art and Culture, Shirley Ryan Abilities Lab, and the Disability Culture Activism Lab (DCAL), a teaching lab housed under the department of art therapy and counseling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Bodies of Work is a part of the Department of Disability and Human Development within the College of Applied Health Sciences at University of Illinois-Chicago. The contents of this film were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTCP0005). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this film do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
LabE is a series of monthly cohort meetings addressing particular needs of disabled dance artists.
The LabE gathering on April 2nd is designed to be a safe, disability-centric space where artists can come together to share a work-in-progress, try out new ideas, workshop concepts, and experiment with new scores. Hosted by Maggie Bridger, this inclusive event is open to all artists who seek a supportive community where they can connect with peers who share similar experiences and offer and receive support, encouragement, and constructive feedback.
This gathering aims to foster community connections among Deaf, disabled, sick, neurodivergent, and Mad artists while providing a platform for artists to explore their creativity and showcase their unique perspectives.
In-progress projects will be presented by Sydney Erlikh & Deb Goodman.
If you are an artist who is interested in showcasing your art or working through new ideas, please reach out to Maggie at mbridg8@uic.edu to participate in this event.
LabE is open to all Chicago-area dance artists who self-identify as Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing, sick, mad, neurodivergent, disabled or living with a disability, and/or who have lived experience with disability or impairment. This space is particularly meant for those interested in exploring disability and impairment-informed modes of practicing dance.
Additional Access Information is available at https://highconceptlabs.org/news-2/labe-launches-at-experimental-station. For any other questions or requests regarding accessibility accommodations, please contact HCL’s Accessibility Coordinator, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla (yolanda@highconceptlabs.org).
Accessibility: captioning, sensory-friendly, quiet spaces, wheelchair accessible
This Wednesday, March 1st Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance is hosting beekeeper Jonathan Bennett for a virtual lecture from 6:30pm – 8pm. Jonathan encourages people of all ages and abilities to keep bees if it is of their interest. In his presentation he will share ways he has adapted his beekeeping to his physical ability and future plans to continue to improve the adaptability of his apiary to his physical ability.
This virtual lecture will have ASL Interpretation and auto-generated closed captioning available.
About the speaker: Jonathan Bennett is as unique as he is interesting. He has faced challenges his entire life having been born with spina bifida. He hasn’t let this stop him from pursuing his agricultural ambitions as he got his education from the College of the Ozarks with his bachelor’s in animal science and agriculture business. In recent years, he has expanded the family farm outside Cabool, Missouri producing registered shorthorn cattle, pure Spanish goats, and bees. He currently maintains 5 production hives and several nucleolus colonies.
If you would like to request an accommodation, the registration form has a space to let us know or please feel free to connect with access@garfieldpark.org.
Curb Appeal Gallery is pleased to announce their inaugural exhibition and the Chicago debut of Molly Joyce’s Perspective. Begun in 2019, Perspective is a sound and video work that captures perspectives of the disability experience. Created through interviewing over 40 participants around topics that encompass elements of disability—including care, interdependence, weakness, and cure—Joyce has composed and performed a work that invites audiences to consider the kaleidoscopic and nuanced experiences that inform what it means to be disabled. Created with disability aesthetics and accommodations in mind, Perspective features open-captioned videos, lending a sense of visual primacy to the stories of the disabled participants and their valuable perspectives. In addition to screening Perspective, Curb Appeal is delighted to host a brief conversation between Joyce and one of the project interviewees, Chicago artist Andy Slater (from 7:00-7:30pm).
Accessibility: Curb Appeal is wheelchair accessible. In addition to open captioning on the video work, we will provide ASL interpretation and CART-captioning for remarks and a brief conversation between Molly Joyce and Andy Slater. Masks are required for entry and will be provided if needed. Please note, Curb Appeal is an apartment gallery and doubles as a home to our gallery dog.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, Executive Order 9066 led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. Every year, the Japanese American community in Chicago comes together to commemorate E.O. 9066 as a reminder of the fragility of civil liberties in times of crisis and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting the rights and freedoms of all.
The film “Resettlement: Chicago Story” tells an intergenerational story of the Yamamoto family several years after camp, as they struggle to rebuild their lives and make ends meet through their family dry cleaning business.
The film screening will be followed by a presentation of the companion learning website and Q&A. There will be a reception with complementary food and beverages following the program. The program will have ASL and CART/Live Captioning provided, the film will be presented with Open Captions and Open Audio Description.
Reception: ASL interpreter and CART
Film: Open Caption and Audio Description
PLAID AS HELL is an honest, slightly raunchy, queer comedy which introduces us to Cass, who is hoping her annual camping trip will go well this year. But with her best friend Emilie sniping at Cass’s new girlfriend Jessica, not to mention the serial killer on the loose, the weekend is off to a rocky start.
https://babeswithblades.org/fall-2022-plaid-as-hell/