metlife foundation national arts forum series

Past Forums

Arts & Business Council Inc.
New York, New York

Tapping a Market of 54 Million: Accessibility in the Arts
04/01/2002

Moderator: Doris Zames Fleischer, PH.D.
Co-Author, The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation

Panelists:

• Jean Argoff
  Executive Director, Disability Funders Network
• Kitty Lunn
  Artistic Director, Infinity Dance Theater
• Rosemarie McCaffery
  Program Director, The Associated Blind, Inc.
• Beth Prevor
  Executive Director, Hands On

The nation’s population includes more than 54 million people with disabilities, making this demographic the largest “minority” group in the United States. The forum included representatives from the visually-impaired, hearing-impaired, and mobility-impaired communities. The panelists provided insight into how to reach and accommodate people with disabilities so they may become more frequent attendees at cultural events and more involved as members of boards and staffs of cultural organizations. A relatively unique “spin” to this session was presenting the goal of reaching disabled people NOT as a legal mandate or obligation but as an enormous untapped market segment that should not be ignored by arts organization whether or not the ADA or local human rights laws compelled them to act.

Fleischer noted that this group also includes individuals with “invisible” disabilities – such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes – and cuts across all racial, ethnic, gender, social class, and age boundaries. Because advances in medicine and technology enable people with disabilities to live longer with a higher quality of life, the disability population has increased in recent decades and will continue to grow.

Enforcing the Law
Lunn, a wheelchair user (and an actress and dancer), called for more attitudinal changes, arguing that strict enforcement of the law may not bring the desired results. She spoke of the need to compromise and sometimes settle for less than what might be legally enforceable. In contrast, McCaffery, a blind individual, felt strongly that without such strict enforcement, little is to be gained.

The Responsibilities of Nonprofits
Arts groups must do a more effective job of making their facilities accessible and in communicating their accessibility to the disability community. Panelists noted the importance of using the disability community’s own publications to convey that message and agreed that it is vital that boards and staffs of cultural organizations include people with disabilities. Whenever possible, arts organizations should deal with groups that are made up “of” people with disabilities and not organizations that are “for” the disabled community. Argoff noted that some funders are now asking questions of arts groups regarding their involvement with the disability community. Although many funders are not highly knowledgeable about this field, there is growing interest in responding to the needs of this population. Prevor, who directs an organization that provides signing and other services for hearing-impaired audiences, made a distinction between providing such services and undertaking a more comprehensive effort to institute what she called “programmatic accessibility.” Making facilities and programs fully accessible requires a corresponding effort to build marketing partnerships that allow arts groups to reach these market segments in a way that will encourage their participation.

Reaching this enormous audience and ensuring improved access to cultural facilities – including compliance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal and local laws – still represent major challenges to the arts community. The support of the public and private funding sector is critical in meeting these challenges and achieving the valuable goal of creating a more diverse and inclusive environment.