News and initiatives
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Interview – Resources provided by Eric Whitmer
As part of the podcast series, “ArtsAbly in Conversation,” Diane Kolin interviewed Eric Whitmer, a third-year Ph.D. student in Musicology at the University of Michigan. Listen to Eric Whitmer’s interview This post presents the resources that Eric Whitmer mentioned during the conversation. Eric Whitmer Eric Whitmer is a third-year Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Michigan. Their research draws from the fields of disability studies and digital studies, and seeks to understand how and why people utilize music to make the world “better” (big scare quotes intended). Their dissertation tracks the deployment of legal, economic, and digital technologies…
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Interview – Resources provided by Robyn Rennie
As part of the podcast series, “ArtsAbly in Conversation,” Diane Kolin interviewed Robyn Rennie, a visual artist living in New Brunswick in Canada. Listen to Robyn Rennie’s interview This post presents the resources that Robyn Rennie mentioned during the conversation. Robyn Rennie A life-changing vision loss in 2005 has changed how Rennie experience the world. She often continues to choose landscape subject matter, but visual impairment has freed her from her former style of highly-detailed expression, and created a shift toward abstraction and the visceral. While she uses the same medium and grounds, she now employs them to subvert popular…
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Interview – Resources provided by seeley quest
As part of the podcast series, “ArtsAbly in Conversation,” Diane Kolin interviewed seeley quest, a trans disabled environmentalist, arts and equity educator, living in Toronto in Canada. Listen to seeley quest’s interview This post presents the resources that seeley quest mentioned during the conversation. seeley quest seeley quest (sie/hir), a trans disabled environmentalist, arts and equity educator in Canada since 2017, previously in the San Francisco Bay Area 1998-2015, became active in Sins Invalid’s collective 2007-2015, and co-edited the Ten Principles of Disability Justice. Sie inaugurated a 2021 Quebec Writers’ Federation disabled writers’ workshop, “Solarpunk: Writing Futures with Resiliency” for…
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My experience as a disabled singer in vocal ensembles using a wheelchair
As I just gave my last concert of 2025 yesterday night, I want to reflect on my experience as a disabled singer in vocal ensembles using a wheelchair. Images descriptions and alt texts are available for each image. If you know me, you know that I love singing. I have been singing with choirs and vocal ensembles for many years. What a great experience it is to sing with others, feeling the energy of the surrounding performers, the singers, the orchestra, the conductor! I am also very grateful and happy to be visible as a performer with disabilities, showing people…
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Call for Papers (CfP) – Music and Collective Access Symposium 2026
We are delighted to announce the Call for Papers for the Music and Collective Access Symposium. Organizers: Anabel Maler (UBC), Stefan Sunandan Honisch (UBC), Diane Kolin (ArtsAbly) When: February 27 & 28, 2026 Where: Call for Papers: Dear all, We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming Music and Collective Access Symposium, which will take place from Friday, February 27 to Saturday, February 28, 2026, in Vancouver BC, Canada, hosted by St. John’s College at the University of British Columbia. This hybrid (in-person and online, synchronous) conference is a collaborative undertaking between ArtsAbly, a not-for-profit organization working with performers and schools to make the arts more accessible to all, faculty members at UBC, and Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture, a…
