Advertise on podcast: Accessing Art With Amy

"Amy Amantea is a multi disciplinary art with legal blindness and a love for photography. With a focus on “Finding the Light,” Amy asks people to describe the photos she has taken and never really seen. Amy uses her recollection of place and time to engage in conversation and shared memory, creating a unique participant experience. Connect with the artist: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.amantea"

Goldbard is a divergent creative who is sharing their healing gifts with the world through art, writing and song. Whether performing with their duo, SonicJoy, or doing healing work with clients as a trauma recovery coach, their work centres their lived experience in a queer, neurodivergent, fat, trauma survivor body. They believe the arts are our most powerful tool for personal and collective transformation, and that QUEER JOY is the birthright of every human on this planet.

"When you acquire a disability, there is a period of adjustment when you figure out what this “new life” looks like. And, while you do that, those around you are often comparing you to who you were or looking at you as someone how won't be able to function in society or live a normal life. What is “normal” anyway? Who decides what that looks like? If you are Jennifer Burgmann, you are taking these everyday experiences of ableism and oppression and integrating them into your creative process proving it to be both satisfying and empowering! Celebrate British Columbia's Access Awareness Day with Jennifer Burgmann, who is lending her talents from her home in Surrey, B.C. Connect with the artist: https://adayinthelifeofapwd.weebly.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenniferburgman?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferburgmann/?hl=en"

"Johnny Tai is a lot of things. He is an accomplished martial arts instructor, a former dragon boater, a YouTuber and a singer songwriter. He also is a tactile artist. Johnny, who is totally blind and partially Deaf, shares the biggest challenge he had when he was learning how to draw was how to translate a three-dimensional form onto a two-dimensional surface. Using aluminum or copper sheets as his medium, Johnny continues to explore texture and form as he draws images and scenes from his imagination, as they are not things he has seen before. Connect with the Artist on his website: http://www.johnnytiger.com/ Connect with Johnny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnnytiger1981?lang=en Connect with Johnny on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnnytiger1981/ Subscribe to Johnny on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/bigbigmanful"

"Joining us from, Duncan, on Vancouver Island, Lise Gillies describes her ADHD as a superpower – being able for focus on multiple things at once while creating graphic recordings. She also works with Indigenous traditional plants to create some of the most luxurious lip balms ever. Connect with the Artist on her website: blackbirdholistic.ca"

"Katherine Matlashewski is a graduate of Studio 58, a well-known professional acting school in Vancouver. Being dyslexic meant she had to advocate for herself throughout her education and life, but she is turning some of these experiences into work that she can perform on stage in order to “fill that gap” where artists with disabilities should be present. Connect with the artist on Instagram: @katie_kat347"

"Shawn Jordan has been drawing since childhood, and this has been a key narrative through their artistic practice. Living on Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Shawn explores a multitude of artistic mediums and is open to, as they put it, “Trying anything once.” In this episode, we introduce you to Sunny Bubbles and learn about how this character came to be. Connect with the artist on Instagram: @ShawnOlinB "

"According to her website, Ysabelle Vautour has a mission to elevate disability representation on the arts. How does she do this? With her desire to continue exploring new art forms and connecting with other artists who live with disability AND bring these artists together so that we can learn from eachother and perhaps even create together! Connect with Ysabelle, commission her work and consider her for your residency programs. Connect with the artist creatingaccess.org "

"This world is full of fascinating people. Q is one of them. With multiple intersections and a background as a death dula, Q shares some of the artistic work that explores lived experience and politics and changing the narrative. What does it mean to have a ”forever project?” Let's explore that and so much more. Joining us from Chilliwack, B.C., it is Q! CONTENT WARNING: ableism, strong and possibly offensive language Connect with the Artist on Twitter and Instgram: @QJustTheLetter "

With significant changes in mobility, old spaces become unknown insofar as the body must learn anew to navigate through them. In recent years, Kim Kitchen sought a more accessible means to art-making conducive to her new reality of disability. Audio and video emerged as a friendly, gentle, no-friction medium. From her home in North Bay, Ontario, Kim shares her journey and a new project that is a culmination of three years of this work! Connect with Kim: kimkitcheninthestudio.com

"Based in Toronto out of Lisa Anita Wegner’s Haus of Dada Studios, the Mighty Brave Productions team has been creating film and multimedia content since 1998. The group has evolved from a film production house into a diverse, community-focused collective that produces disability-led projects in all forms of media for the world stage. Come and explore Lisa’s unique universes. Connect with the Artist: https://linktr.ee/lisaanitawegner www.lisaanitawegner.com www.mightybraveproductions.com "

Connor Runnings lives on Vancouver Island and studies theatre and acting at the University of Victoria. He brings his lived experience of autism into his writing and performing, and is an advocate for the representation of authentic storytelling. His show, Built Different, involved an entire creative team of people who identify as neurodivergent; what a powerhouse and he is only just getting started! Follow Connor on Instagram: @connorrunn