New Brunswick's Disability Arts Collective to hold first gallery showing
New Brunswick's Disability Arts Collective is about to hold their first gallery showing.
The collective was formed in 2021 by Ysabelle Vautour, a visually impaired artist who wanted to create a space and resources for other artists with disabilities in the province.
For Vautour, it's about highlighting ability.
"I think it’s important because there is very limited amount of shows that portray persons with disabilities in a positive or even an accurate way,” Vautour said.
The showcase is also an opportunity for the gallery space to be inclusive and accessible.
"One of the ways we can do that is, I'm going to be hanging the work lower so it's like wheelchair level, which is kind of like ‘Oh, why is the art hung that way’ and then we can talk about that,” she said.
In the future, Vautour would like to include audio-visual descriptions of pieces and hopes incorporating accessibility will become commonplace practice in galleries.
The showcase will feature five artists with disabilities from around the province, in a variety of mediums.
"I do ink and wash with water colours and ink, and I get on google maps and I go around the world and I find places that inspire me because I'm blind, in my eye with glaucoma a lot of these places I don't think I'm ever going to see not in my time,” said artist Ryan Annett.
The first showcase for the collective will be presented at the Fredericton Playhouse from Jan. 11 to Feb. 28.
"I've been painting for almost five years I guess. It's funny because before I had my stroke I wasn't getting out, I wasn't going anywhere, but I feel like with this group I have a voice now and I can be a part of it,” said artist Cassandra Mazariegos.
Vautour created the collective to bring artists with disabilities together and to diversify the artistic community.
"Disability is diverse. It comes in different types, different stages, it can start later in life versus being born with it, visible not visible, severity, there's all these things that come into play,” Vautour said.
“I can't speak to it as one person, so having a collective is important in the sense that you can see that diversity it's not just one opinion,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | U.S. President Joe Biden touches down in Ottawa
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.

Trudeau, Biden could agree to end 'loophole' in Safe Third Country Agreement: CP source
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Eastern Ont. mayor wants more help from feds to manage influx of asylum seekers, supports STCA renegotiation
As the federal government looks to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., an eastern Ontario mayor says his city needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers arriving through irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
Opposition parties affirm call for interference inquiry, amid questions over MP Han Dong
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
'Scream as loud as you can': 5 boys rescued from NYC tunnel
Five mischievous boys had to be rescued after they crawled through a storm drain tunnel in New York City and got lost, authorities said.
Make sure to check your grocery bill otherwise you may pay more: Survey
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
Asteroid to hurtle past Earth closer than the moon this weekend
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
Number of Canadians receiving EI at record lows, down 44 per cent from last year: StatCan
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Indigenous sisters developing video games to revitalize Mohawk language
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.